章节正文
文章总共2页
formerly kind to my soul in prayer, I looked round me for a
stone, and espying one, I went and brought it. When the woman
with me saw me set down the stone, she smiled, and asked what
I was going to do with it. I told her I was going to set it
up as my Ebenezer, because hitherto, and in that place, the
Lord had formerly helped, and I hoped would yet help. The
rain still continuing, the child weepingbitterly, I went to
prayer, and no sooner did I cry to God, but the child gave
over weeping, and when we got up from prayer, the rain was
pouring down on every side, but in the way where we were to go
there fell not one drop; the place not rained on was as big as
an ordinary avenue.' And so great a saint was the natural
butt of Satan's persecutions. `I retired to the fields for
secret prayer about mid-night. When I went to pray I was much
straitened, and could not get one request, but "Lord pity,"
"Lord help"; this I came over frequently; at length the terror
of Satan fell on me in a high degree, and all I could say even
then was - "Lord help." I continued in the duty for some
time, notwithstanding of this terror. At length I got up to
my feet, and the terror still increased; then the enemy took
me by the arm-pits, and seemed to lift me up by my arms. I
saw a loch just before me, and I concluded he designed to
throw me there by force; and had he got leave to do so, it
might have brought a great reproach upon religion. (1) But it
was otherwise ordered, and the cause of piety escaped that
danger. (2)
(1) This John Stevenson was not the only `witness' of the
name; other Stevensons were actually killed during the
persecutions, in the Glen of Trool, on Pentland, etc.; and it
is very possible that the author's own ancestor was one of the
mounted party embodied by Muir of Caldwell, only a day too
late for Pentland.
(2) Wodrow Society's SELECT BIOGRAPHIES, vol. ii.- [R. L.
S.]
On the whole, the Stevensons may be described as decent,
reputable folk, following honest trades - millers, maltsters,
and doctors, playing the character parts in the Waverley
Novels with propriety, if without distinction; and to an
orphan looking about him in the world for a potential
ancestry, offering a plain and quite unadorned refuge, equally
free from shame and glory. John, the land-labourer, is the
one living and memorable figure, and he, alas! cannot possibly
be more near than a collateral. It was on August 12, 1678,
that he heard Mr. John Welsh on the Craigdowhill, and `took
the heavens, earth, and sun in the firmament that was shining
on us, as also the ambassador who made the offer, and THE
CLERK WHO RAISED THE PSALMS, to witness that I did give myself
away to the Lord in a personal and perpetualcovenant never to
be forgotten'; and already, in 1675, the birth of my direct
ascendant was registered in Glasgow. So that I have been
pursuing ancestors too far down; and John the land-labourer is
debarred me, and I must relinquish from the trophies of my
house his RARE SOUL-STRENGTHENING AND COMFORTING CORDIAL. It
is the same case with the Edinburgh bailie and the miller of
the Canonmills, worthy man! and with that public character,
Hugh the Under-Clerk, and, more than all, with Sir Archibald,
the physician, who recorded arms. And I am reduced to a
family of inconspicuous maltsters in what was then the clean
and handsome little city on the Clyde.
The name has a certain air of being Norse. But the story
of Scottish nomenclature is confounded by a continual process
of translation and half-translation from the Gaelic which in
olden days may have been sometimes reversed. Roy becomes
Reid; Gow, Smith. A great Highland clan uses the name of
Robertson; a sept in Appin that of Livingstone; Maclean in
Glencoe answers to Johnstone at Lockerby. And we find such
hybrids as Macalexander for Macallister. There is but one
rule to be deduced: that however uncompromisingly Saxon a name
may appear, you can never be sure it does not designate a
Celt. My great-grandfather wrote the name STEVENSON but
pronounced it STEENSON, after the fashion of the immortal
minstrel in REDGAUNTLET; and this elision of a medial
consonant appears a Gaelic process; and, curiously enough, I
have come across no less than two Gaelic forms: JOHN
MACSTOPHANE CORDINERIUS IN CROSSRAGUEL, 1573, and WILLIAM
M'STEEN in Dunskeith (co. Ross), 1605. Stevenson, Steenson,
stone, and espying one, I went and brought it. When the woman
with me saw me set down the stone, she smiled, and asked what
I was going to do with it. I told her I was going to set it
up as my Ebenezer, because hitherto, and in that place, the
Lord had formerly helped, and I hoped would yet help. The
rain still continuing, the child weepingbitterly, I went to
prayer, and no sooner did I cry to God, but the child gave
over weeping, and when we got up from prayer, the rain was
pouring down on every side, but in the way where we were to go
there fell not one drop; the place not rained on was as big as
an ordinary avenue.' And so great a saint was the natural
butt of Satan's persecutions. `I retired to the fields for
secret prayer about mid-night. When I went to pray I was much
straitened, and could not get one request, but "Lord pity,"
"Lord help"; this I came over frequently; at length the terror
of Satan fell on me in a high degree, and all I could say even
then was - "Lord help." I continued in the duty for some
time, notwithstanding of this terror. At length I got up to
my feet, and the terror still increased; then the enemy took
me by the arm-pits, and seemed to lift me up by my arms. I
saw a loch just before me, and I concluded he designed to
throw me there by force; and had he got leave to do so, it
might have brought a great reproach upon religion. (1) But it
was otherwise ordered, and the cause of piety escaped that
danger. (2)
(1) This John Stevenson was not the only `witness' of the
name; other Stevensons were actually killed during the
persecutions, in the Glen of Trool, on Pentland, etc.; and it
is very possible that the author's own ancestor was one of the
mounted party embodied by Muir of Caldwell, only a day too
late for Pentland.
(2) Wodrow Society's SELECT BIOGRAPHIES, vol. ii.- [R. L.
S.]
On the whole, the Stevensons may be described as decent,
reputable folk, following honest trades - millers, maltsters,
and doctors, playing the character parts in the Waverley
Novels with propriety, if without distinction; and to an
orphan looking about him in the world for a potential
ancestry, offering a plain and quite unadorned refuge, equally
free from shame and glory. John, the land-labourer, is the
one living and memorable figure, and he, alas! cannot possibly
be more near than a collateral. It was on August 12, 1678,
that he heard Mr. John Welsh on the Craigdowhill, and `took
the heavens, earth, and sun in the firmament that was shining
on us, as also the ambassador who made the offer, and THE
CLERK WHO RAISED THE PSALMS, to witness that I did give myself
away to the Lord in a personal and perpetualcovenant never to
be forgotten'; and already, in 1675, the birth of my direct
ascendant was registered in Glasgow. So that I have been
pursuing ancestors too far down; and John the land-labourer is
debarred me, and I must relinquish from the trophies of my
house his RARE SOUL-STRENGTHENING AND COMFORTING CORDIAL. It
is the same case with the Edinburgh bailie and the miller of
the Canonmills, worthy man! and with that public character,
Hugh the Under-Clerk, and, more than all, with Sir Archibald,
the physician, who recorded arms. And I am reduced to a
family of inconspicuous maltsters in what was then the clean
and handsome little city on the Clyde.
The name has a certain air of being Norse. But the story
of Scottish nomenclature is confounded by a continual process
of translation and half-translation from the Gaelic which in
olden days may have been sometimes reversed. Roy becomes
Reid; Gow, Smith. A great Highland clan uses the name of
Robertson; a sept in Appin that of Livingstone; Maclean in
Glencoe answers to Johnstone at Lockerby. And we find such
hybrids as Macalexander for Macallister. There is but one
rule to be deduced: that however uncompromisingly Saxon a name
may appear, you can never be sure it does not designate a
Celt. My great-grandfather wrote the name STEVENSON but
pronounced it STEENSON, after the fashion of the immortal
minstrel in REDGAUNTLET; and this elision of a medial
consonant appears a Gaelic process; and, curiously enough, I
have come across no less than two Gaelic forms: JOHN
MACSTOPHANE CORDINERIUS IN CROSSRAGUEL, 1573, and WILLIAM
M'STEEN in Dunskeith (co. Ross), 1605. Stevenson, Steenson,
- domestic [də´mestik]
a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词) - hunter [´hʌntə] n.猎人；猎狗；猎马 (初中英语单词)
- instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)
- vanish [´væniʃ] vi.消失；消散；消灭 (初中英语单词)
- existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在；生存；生活 (初中英语单词)
- priest [pri:st] n.教士；牧师；神父 (初中英语单词)
- witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
- generation [,dʒenə´reiʃən] n.发生；世代；同龄人 (初中英语单词)
- extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)
- banner [´bænə] n.旗(帜)；头号标题 (初中英语单词)
- enthusiasm [in´θju:ziæzəm] n.热心；狂热；爱好 (初中英语单词)
- criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)
- hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- bitterly [´bitəli] ad.悲痛地；憎恨地 (初中英语单词)
- formerly [´fɔ:məli] ad.从前，以前 (初中英语单词)
- terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
- ancestor [´ænsəstə] n.祖宗，祖先 (初中英语单词)
- character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
- distinction [di´stiŋkʃən] n.差别；特征；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- refuge [´refju:dʒ] v.&n.避难(所)；庇护 (初中英语单词)
- ambassador [æm´bæsədə] n.大使 (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- physician [fi´ziʃən] n.(内科)医生 (初中英语单词)
- curiously [´kjuəriəsli] ad.好奇地；稀奇古怪地 (初中英语单词)
- parish [´pæriʃ] n.教区(的全体居民) (高中英语单词)
- melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- continual [kən´tinjuəl] a.不断的，频繁的 (高中英语单词)
- enjoyment [in´dʒɔimənt] n.享受；愉快；乐趣 (高中英语单词)
- pension [´penʃən] n.津贴 vt.给予…抚恤 (高中英语单词)
- martyr [´mɑ:tə] n.烈士；殉难者 (高中英语单词)
- sweetly [´swi:tli] ad.甜蜜地；美妙地 (高中英语单词)
- commonly [´kɔmənli] ad.一般地；通常 (高中英语单词)
- divert [dai´və:t] vt.转移注意力；消遣 (高中英语单词)
- hitherto [,hiðə´tu:] ad.至今，迄今 (高中英语单词)
- notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然；还是 (高中英语单词)
- reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
- offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
- memorable [´memərəbəl] a.难忘的；重大的 (高中英语单词)
- perpetual [pə´petʃuəl] a.永恒的；终身的 (高中英语单词)
- cordial [´kɔ:diəl] a.热忱的；亲切的 (高中英语单词)
- translation [træns´leiʃən, trænz-] n.翻译；译文；译本 (高中英语单词)
- highland [´hailənd] n.山地，高地 (高中英语单词)
- lesser [´lesə] a.较小的；次要的 (英语四级单词)
- edinburgh [´edinbərə] n.爱丁堡 (英语四级单词)
- covenant [´kʌvənənt] n.盟约，契约 v.订盟约 (英语四级单词)
- sickly [´sikli] a.多病的；病态的 (英语四级单词)
- prostrate [´prɔstreit, prɔ´streit] a.俯伏的 vt.弄倒 (英语四级单词)
- joyfully [´dʒɔifuli] ad.高兴地，快乐地 (英语四级单词)
- firmament [´fə:məmənt] n.苍穹，天空 (英语四级单词)
- glasgow [´glɑ:sgəu] n.格拉斯哥 (英语四级单词)
- miller [´milə] n.磨坊主；铣床(工) (英语四级单词)
- scottish [´skɔtiʃ, ´skɑtiʃ] a.&n.苏格兰人(的) (英语四级单词)
- designate [´dezignit, -neit] vt.标明；任命 (英语四级单词)
- surname [´sə:neim] n.姓氏 (英语六级单词)
- forester [´fɔristə] n.护林人，林务员 (英语六级单词)
- bastard [´bæstəd] n.私生子 a.私生的 (英语六级单词)
- sentry [´sentri] n.哨兵 v.站岗，放哨 (英语六级单词)
- exultation [egzʌl´teiʃən] n.欢腾，狂欢 (英语六级单词)
- genteel [dʒen´ti:l] a.有教养的；文雅的 (英语六级单词)
- weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)
- retired [ri´taiəd] a.退休的；通职的 (英语六级单词)
- propriety [prə´praiəti] n.正当；合适；礼貌 (英语六级单词)
- august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
- relinquish [ri´liŋkwiʃ] vt.放弃；撤回；停止 (英语六级单词)
文章总共2页
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
