章节正文
Standard Oil agent in Winesburg and in several
towns up and down the railroad that went through
Winesburg. He collected bills, booked orders, and
did other things. His father, the legislator, had se-
cured the job for him.
In and out of the stores of Winesburg went Joe
Welling--silent, excessively polite, intent upon his
business. Men watched him with eyes in which
lurked amusement tempered by alarm. They were
waiting for him to break forth, preparing to flee.
Although the seizures that came upon him were
harmless enough, they could not be laughed away.
They were overwhelming. Astride an idea, Joe was
overmastering. His personality became gigantic. It
overrode the man to whom he talked, swept him
away, swept all away, all who stood within sound
of his voice.
In Sylvester West's Drug Store stood four men
who were talking of horse racing. Wesley Moyer's
stallion, Tony Tip, was to race at the June meeting
at Tiffin, Ohio, and there was a rumor that he would
meet the stiffest competition of his career. It was
said that Pop Geers, the great racing driver, would
himself be there. A doubt of the success of Tony Tip
hung heavy in the air of Winesburg.
Into the drug store came Joe Welling, brushing
the screen door violently aside. With a strange ab-
sorbed light in his eyes he pounced upon Ed
Thomas, he who knew Pop Geers and whose opin-
ion of Tony Tip's chances was worth considering.
"The water is up in Wine Creek," cried Joe Wel-
ling with the air of Pheidippides bringing news of
the victory of the Greeks in the struggle at Mara-
thon. His finger beat a tattoo upon Ed Thomas's
broad chest. "By Trunion bridge it is within eleven
and a half inches of the flooring," he went on, the
words coming quickly and with a little whistling
noise from between his teeth. An expression of help-
less annoyance crept over the faces of the four.
"I have my facts correct. Depend upon that. I
went to Sinnings' Hardware Store and got a rule.
Then I went back and measured. I could hardly be-
lieve my own eyes. It hasn't rained you see for ten
days. At first I didn't know what to think. Thoughts
rushed through my head. I thought of subterranean
passages and springs. Down under the ground went
my mind, delving about. I sat on the floor of the
bridge and rubbed my head. There wasn't a cloud
in the sky, not one. Come out into the street and
you'll see. There wasn't a cloud. There isn't a cloud
now. Yes, there was a cloud. I don't want to keep
back any facts. There was a cloud in the west down
near the horizon, a cloud no bigger than a man's
hand.
"Not that I think that has anything to do with it.
There it is, you see. You understand how puzzled I
was.
"Then an idea came to me. I laughed. You'll
laugh, too. Of course it rained over in Medina
County. That's interesting, eh? If we had no trains,
no mails, no telegraph, we would know that it
rained over in Medina County. That's where Wine
Creek comes from. Everyone knows that. Little old
Wine Creek brought us the news. That's interesting.
I laughed. I thought I'd tell you--it's interesting,
eh?"
Joe Welling turned and went out at the door. Tak-
ing a book from his pocket, he stopped and ran a
finger down one of the pages. Again he was ab-
sorbed in his duties as agent of the Standard Oil
Company. "Hern's Grocery will be getting low on
coal oil. I'll see them," he muttered, hurrying along
the street, and bowing politely to the right and left
at the people walking past.
When George Willard went to work for the Wines-
burg Eagle he was besieged by Joe Welling. Joe en-
vied the boy. It seemed to him that he was meant
by Nature to be a reporter on a newspaper. "It is
what I should be doing, there is no doubt of that,"
he declared, stopping George Willard on the side-
walk before Daugherty's Feed Store. His eyes began
to glisten and his forefinger to tremble. "Of course
I make more money with the Standard Oil Company
and I'm only telling you," he added. "I've got noth-
ing against you but I should have your place. I could
do the work at odd moments. Here and there I
would run finding out things you'll never see."
Becoming more excited Joe Welling crowded the
young reporter against the front of the feed store.
He appeared to be lost in thought, rolling his eyes
about and running a thin nervous hand through his
hair. A smile spread over his face and his gold teeth
glittered. "You get out your note book," he com-
manded. "You carry a little pad of paper in your
pocket, don't you? I knew you did. Well, you set
this down. I thought of it the other day. Let's take
decay. Now what is decay? It's fire. It burns up
wood and other things. You never thought of that?
Of course not. This sidewalk here and this feed
store, the trees down the street there--they're all on
fire. They're burning up. Decay you see is always
going on. It doesn't stop. Water and paint can't stop
it. If a thing is iron, then what? It rusts, you see.
That's fire, too. The world is on fire. Start your
pieces in the paper that way. Just say in big letters
'The World Is On Fire.' That will make 'em look up.
They'll say you're a smart one. I don't care. I don't
envy you. I just snatched that idea out of the air. I
would make a newspaper hum. You got to admit
that."'
Turning quickly, Joe Welling walked rapidly away.
When he had taken several steps he stopped and
looked back. "I'm going to stick to you," he said.
"I'm going to make you a regular hummer. I should
start a newspaper myself, that's what I should do.
I'd be a marvel. Everybody knows that."
When George Willard had been for a year on the
Winesburg Eagle, four things happened to Joe Wel-
ling. His mother died, he came to live at the New
Willard House, he became involved in a love affair,
and he organized the Winesburg Baseball Club.
Joe organized the baseball club because he wanted
to be a coach and in that position he began to win
the respect of his townsmen. "He is a wonder," they
declared after Joe's team had whipped the team
from Medina County. "He gets everybody working
together. You just watch him."
Upon the baseball field Joe Welling stood by first
base, his whole body quivering with excitement. In
spite of themselves all the players watched him
closely. The opposing pitcher became confused.
"Now! Now! Now! Now!" shouted the excited
man. "Watch me! Watch me! Watch my fingers!
Watch my hands! Watch my feet! Watch my eyes!
Let's work together here! Watch me! In me you see
all the movements of the game! Work with me!
Work with me! Watch me! Watch me! Watch me!"
With runners of the Winesburg team on bases, Joe
Welling became as one inspired. Before they knew
what had come over them, the base runners were
watching the man, edging off the bases, advancing,
retreating, held as by an invisible cord. The players
of the opposing team also watched Joe. They were
fascinated. For a moment they watched and then,
as though to break a spell that hung over them, they
began hurling the ball wildly about, and amid a se-
ries of fierce animal-like cries from the coach, the
runners of the Winesburg team scampered home.
Joe Welling's love affair set the town of Winesburg
on edge. When it began everyone whispered and
shook his head. When people tried to laugh, the
laughter was forced and unnatural. Joe fell in love
with Sarah King, a lean, sad-looking woman who
lived with her father and brother in a brick house
that stood opposite the gate leading to the Wines-
burg Cemetery.
The two Kings, Edward the father, and Tom the
son, were not popular in Winesburg. They were
called proud and dangerous. They had come to
Winesburg from some place in the South and ran a
cider mill on the Trunion Pike. Tom King was re-
ported to have killed a man before he came to
Winesburg. He was twenty-seven years old and
rode about town on a grey pony. Also he had a long
yellow mustache that dropped down over his teeth,
and always carried a heavy, wicked-looking walking
stick in his hand. Once he killed a dog with the
stick. The dog belonged to Win Pawsey, the shoe
merchant, and stood on the sidewalk wagging its
tail. Tom King killed it with one blow. He was ar-
rested and paid a fine of ten dollars.
Old Edward King was small of stature and when
he passed people in the street laughed a queer un-
mirthful laugh. When he laughed he scratched his
left elbow with his right hand. The sleeve of his
coat was almost worn through from the habit. As he
walked along the street, looking nervously about
and laughing, he seemed more dangerous than his
silent, fierce-looking son.
When Sarah King began walking out in the eve-
ning with Joe Welling, people shook their heads in
alarm. She was tall and pale and had dark rings
under her eyes. The couple looked ridiculous to-
gether. Under the trees they walked and Joe talked.
His passionate eager protestations of love, heard
coming out of the darkness by the cemetery wall, or
from the deep shadows of the trees on the hill that
ran up to the Fair Grounds from Waterworks Pond,
were repeated in the stores. Men stood by the bar
in the New Willard House laughing and talking of
Joe's courtship. After the laughter came the silence.
The Winesburg baseball team, under his manage-
ment, was winning game after game, and the town
had begun to respect him. Sensing a tragedy, they
waited, laughing nervously.
Late on a Saturday afternoon the meeting between
Joe Welling and the two Kings, the anticipation of
which had set the town on edge, took place in Joe
Welling's room in the New Willard House. George
Willard was a witness to the meeting. It came about
in this way:
towns up and down the railroad that went through
Winesburg. He collected bills, booked orders, and
did other things. His father, the legislator, had se-
cured the job for him.
In and out of the stores of Winesburg went Joe
Welling--silent, excessively polite, intent upon his
business. Men watched him with eyes in which
lurked amusement tempered by alarm. They were
waiting for him to break forth, preparing to flee.
Although the seizures that came upon him were
harmless enough, they could not be laughed away.
They were overwhelming. Astride an idea, Joe was
overmastering. His personality became gigantic. It
overrode the man to whom he talked, swept him
away, swept all away, all who stood within sound
of his voice.
In Sylvester West's Drug Store stood four men
who were talking of horse racing. Wesley Moyer's
stallion, Tony Tip, was to race at the June meeting
at Tiffin, Ohio, and there was a rumor that he would
meet the stiffest competition of his career. It was
said that Pop Geers, the great racing driver, would
himself be there. A doubt of the success of Tony Tip
hung heavy in the air of Winesburg.
Into the drug store came Joe Welling, brushing
the screen door violently aside. With a strange ab-
sorbed light in his eyes he pounced upon Ed
Thomas, he who knew Pop Geers and whose opin-
ion of Tony Tip's chances was worth considering.
"The water is up in Wine Creek," cried Joe Wel-
ling with the air of Pheidippides bringing news of
the victory of the Greeks in the struggle at Mara-
thon. His finger beat a tattoo upon Ed Thomas's
broad chest. "By Trunion bridge it is within eleven
and a half inches of the flooring," he went on, the
words coming quickly and with a little whistling
noise from between his teeth. An expression of help-
less annoyance crept over the faces of the four.
"I have my facts correct. Depend upon that. I
went to Sinnings' Hardware Store and got a rule.
Then I went back and measured. I could hardly be-
lieve my own eyes. It hasn't rained you see for ten
days. At first I didn't know what to think. Thoughts
rushed through my head. I thought of subterranean
passages and springs. Down under the ground went
my mind, delving about. I sat on the floor of the
bridge and rubbed my head. There wasn't a cloud
in the sky, not one. Come out into the street and
you'll see. There wasn't a cloud. There isn't a cloud
now. Yes, there was a cloud. I don't want to keep
back any facts. There was a cloud in the west down
near the horizon, a cloud no bigger than a man's
hand.
"Not that I think that has anything to do with it.
There it is, you see. You understand how puzzled I
was.
"Then an idea came to me. I laughed. You'll
laugh, too. Of course it rained over in Medina
County. That's interesting, eh? If we had no trains,
no mails, no telegraph, we would know that it
rained over in Medina County. That's where Wine
Creek comes from. Everyone knows that. Little old
Wine Creek brought us the news. That's interesting.
I laughed. I thought I'd tell you--it's interesting,
eh?"
Joe Welling turned and went out at the door. Tak-
ing a book from his pocket, he stopped and ran a
finger down one of the pages. Again he was ab-
sorbed in his duties as agent of the Standard Oil
Company. "Hern's Grocery will be getting low on
coal oil. I'll see them," he muttered, hurrying along
the street, and bowing politely to the right and left
at the people walking past.
When George Willard went to work for the Wines-
burg Eagle he was besieged by Joe Welling. Joe en-
vied the boy. It seemed to him that he was meant
by Nature to be a reporter on a newspaper. "It is
what I should be doing, there is no doubt of that,"
he declared, stopping George Willard on the side-
walk before Daugherty's Feed Store. His eyes began
to glisten and his forefinger to tremble. "Of course
I make more money with the Standard Oil Company
and I'm only telling you," he added. "I've got noth-
ing against you but I should have your place. I could
do the work at odd moments. Here and there I
would run finding out things you'll never see."
Becoming more excited Joe Welling crowded the
young reporter against the front of the feed store.
He appeared to be lost in thought, rolling his eyes
about and running a thin nervous hand through his
hair. A smile spread over his face and his gold teeth
glittered. "You get out your note book," he com-
manded. "You carry a little pad of paper in your
pocket, don't you? I knew you did. Well, you set
this down. I thought of it the other day. Let's take
decay. Now what is decay? It's fire. It burns up
wood and other things. You never thought of that?
Of course not. This sidewalk here and this feed
store, the trees down the street there--they're all on
fire. They're burning up. Decay you see is always
going on. It doesn't stop. Water and paint can't stop
it. If a thing is iron, then what? It rusts, you see.
That's fire, too. The world is on fire. Start your
pieces in the paper that way. Just say in big letters
'The World Is On Fire.' That will make 'em look up.
They'll say you're a smart one. I don't care. I don't
envy you. I just snatched that idea out of the air. I
would make a newspaper hum. You got to admit
that."'
Turning quickly, Joe Welling walked rapidly away.
When he had taken several steps he stopped and
looked back. "I'm going to stick to you," he said.
"I'm going to make you a regular hummer. I should
start a newspaper myself, that's what I should do.
I'd be a marvel. Everybody knows that."
When George Willard had been for a year on the
Winesburg Eagle, four things happened to Joe Wel-
ling. His mother died, he came to live at the New
Willard House, he became involved in a love affair,
and he organized the Winesburg Baseball Club.
Joe organized the baseball club because he wanted
to be a coach and in that position he began to win
the respect of his townsmen. "He is a wonder," they
declared after Joe's team had whipped the team
from Medina County. "He gets everybody working
together. You just watch him."
Upon the baseball field Joe Welling stood by first
base, his whole body quivering with excitement. In
spite of themselves all the players watched him
closely. The opposing pitcher became confused.
"Now! Now! Now! Now!" shouted the excited
man. "Watch me! Watch me! Watch my fingers!
Watch my hands! Watch my feet! Watch my eyes!
Let's work together here! Watch me! In me you see
all the movements of the game! Work with me!
Work with me! Watch me! Watch me! Watch me!"
With runners of the Winesburg team on bases, Joe
Welling became as one inspired. Before they knew
what had come over them, the base runners were
watching the man, edging off the bases, advancing,
retreating, held as by an invisible cord. The players
of the opposing team also watched Joe. They were
fascinated. For a moment they watched and then,
as though to break a spell that hung over them, they
began hurling the ball wildly about, and amid a se-
ries of fierce animal-like cries from the coach, the
runners of the Winesburg team scampered home.
Joe Welling's love affair set the town of Winesburg
on edge. When it began everyone whispered and
shook his head. When people tried to laugh, the
laughter was forced and unnatural. Joe fell in love
with Sarah King, a lean, sad-looking woman who
lived with her father and brother in a brick house
that stood opposite the gate leading to the Wines-
burg Cemetery.
The two Kings, Edward the father, and Tom the
son, were not popular in Winesburg. They were
called proud and dangerous. They had come to
Winesburg from some place in the South and ran a
cider mill on the Trunion Pike. Tom King was re-
ported to have killed a man before he came to
Winesburg. He was twenty-seven years old and
rode about town on a grey pony. Also he had a long
yellow mustache that dropped down over his teeth,
and always carried a heavy, wicked-looking walking
stick in his hand. Once he killed a dog with the
stick. The dog belonged to Win Pawsey, the shoe
merchant, and stood on the sidewalk wagging its
tail. Tom King killed it with one blow. He was ar-
rested and paid a fine of ten dollars.
Old Edward King was small of stature and when
he passed people in the street laughed a queer un-
mirthful laugh. When he laughed he scratched his
left elbow with his right hand. The sleeve of his
coat was almost worn through from the habit. As he
walked along the street, looking nervously about
and laughing, he seemed more dangerous than his
silent, fierce-looking son.
When Sarah King began walking out in the eve-
ning with Joe Welling, people shook their heads in
alarm. She was tall and pale and had dark rings
under her eyes. The couple looked ridiculous to-
gether. Under the trees they walked and Joe talked.
His passionate eager protestations of love, heard
coming out of the darkness by the cemetery wall, or
from the deep shadows of the trees on the hill that
ran up to the Fair Grounds from Waterworks Pond,
were repeated in the stores. Men stood by the bar
in the New Willard House laughing and talking of
Joe's courtship. After the laughter came the silence.
The Winesburg baseball team, under his manage-
ment, was winning game after game, and the town
had begun to respect him. Sensing a tragedy, they
waited, laughing nervously.
Late on a Saturday afternoon the meeting between
Joe Welling and the two Kings, the anticipation of
which had set the town on edge, took place in Joe
Welling's room in the New Willard House. George
Willard was a witness to the meeting. It came about
in this way:
- polite [pə´lait]
a.有礼貌的；温和的 (初中英语单词) - intent [in´tent] a.专心致志的 n.意图 (初中英语单词)
- amusement [ə´mju:zmənt] n.娱乐；文娱设施 (初中英语单词)
- personality [,pə:sə´næliti] n.人；个性；人品；人物 (初中英语单词)
- competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)
- career [kə´riə] n.经历；生涯；职业 (初中英语单词)
- screen [skri:n] n.银幕 vt.遮蔽 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- horizon [hə´raizən] n.地平线；范围；视野 (初中英语单词)
- telegraph [´teligrɑ:f] n.&v.(打)电报；电告 (初中英语单词)
- everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)
- marvel [´mɑ:vəl] n.令人惊异的事；奇迹 (初中英语单词)
- excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)
- pitcher [´pitʃə] n.大水罐；投掷者 (初中英语单词)
- invisible [in´vizəbəl] a.看不见的；无形的 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- sleeve [sli:v] n.袖子；袖套 (初中英语单词)
- laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
- tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
- witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
- gigantic [dʒai´gæntik] a.巨大的 (高中英语单词)
- violently [´vaiələntli] ad.强暴地；猛烈地 (高中英语单词)
- grocery [´grəusəri] n.食品杂货店 (高中英语单词)
- politely [pə´laitli] ad.温和地；文雅地 (高中英语单词)
- reporter [ri´pɔ:tə] n.报告人；记者；广播员 (高中英语单词)
- glisten [´glisən] vi.&n.闪烁，闪闪发光 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
- sidewalk [´saidwɔ:k] n.人行道 (高中英语单词)
- baseball [´beisbɔ:l] n.棒球运动 (高中英语单词)
- ridiculous [ri´dikjuləs] a.荒谬的；可笑的 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- cemetery [´semitri] n.墓地，公墓 (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- overwhelming [,əuvə´welmiŋ] a.压倒的；势不可挡的 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- annoyance [ə´nɔiəns] n.烦恼事(人) (英语四级单词)
- hardware [´hɑ:dweə] n.五金器皿 (英语四级单词)
- unnatural [,ʌn´nætʃərəl] a.不自然的 (英语四级单词)
- mustache [mə´stɑ:ʃ] n.髭，小胡子 (英语四级单词)
- stature [´stætʃə] n.身高；身材 (英语四级单词)
- nervously [´nə:vəsli] ad.神经质地；胆怯地 (英语四级单词)
- winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)
- anticipation [æn,tisi´peiʃən] n.预期；预料；期望 (英语四级单词)
- legislator [´ledʒisleitə] n.立法者 (英语六级单词)
- forefinger [´fɔ:,fiŋgə] n.食指 (英语六级单词)
- courtship [´kɔ:tʃip] n.求爱(时期) (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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