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The Merry Men-Part9_ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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this the case with foot-passengers. All the light-footed tourists,



all the pedlars laden with strange wares, were tendingdownward

like the river that accompanied their path. Nor was this all; for



when Will was yet a child a disastrous war arose over a great part

of the world. The newspapers were full of defeats and victories,



the earth rang with cavalry hoofs, and often for days together and

for miles around the coil of battle terrified good people from



their labours in the field. Of all this, nothing was heard for a

long time in the valley; but at last one of the commanders pushed



an army over the pass by forced marches, and for three days horse

and foot, cannon and tumbril, drum and standard, kept pouring



downward past the mill. All day the child stood and watched them

on their passage - the rhythmical stride, the pale, unshaven faces



tanned about the eyes, the discoloured regimentals and the tattered

flags, filled him with a sense of weariness, pity, and wonder; and



all night long, after he was in bed, he could hear the cannon

pounding and the feet trampling, and the great armament sweeping



onward and downward past the mill. No one in the valley ever heard

the fate of the expedition, for they lay out of the way of gossip



in those troublous times; but Will saw one thing plainly, that not

a man returned. Whither had they all gone? Whither went all the



tourists and pedlars with strange wares? whither all the brisk

barouches with servants in the dicky? whither the water of the



stream, ever coursing downward and ever renewed from above? Even

the wind blew oftener down the valley, and carried the dead leaves



along with it in the fall. It seemed like a great conspiracy of

things animate and inanimate; they all went downward, fleetly and



gaily downward, and only he, it seemed, remained behind, like a

stock upon the wayside. It sometimes made him glad when he noticed



how the fishes kept their heads up stream. They, at least, stood

faithfully by him, while all else were posting downward to the



unknown world.

One evening he asked the miller where the river went.



'It goes down the valley,' answered he, 'and turns a power of mills

- six score mills, they say, from here to Unterdeck - and is none



the wearier after all. And then it goes out into the lowlands, and

waters the great corn country, and runs through a sight of fine



cities (so they say) where kings live all alone in great palaces,

with a sentry walling up and down before the door. And it goes



under bridges with stone men upon them, looking down and smiling so

curious it the water, and living folks leaning their elbows on the



wall and looking over too. And then it goes on and on, and down

through marshes and sands, until at last it falls into the sea,



where the ships are that bring parrots and tobacco from the Indies.

Ay, it has a long trot before it as it goes singing over our weir,



bless its heart!'

'And what is the sea?' asked Will.



'The sea!' cried the miller. 'Lord help us all, it is the greatest

thing God made! That is where all the water in the world runs down



into a great salt lake. There it lies, as flat as my hand and as

innocent-like as a child; but they do say when the wind blows it



gets up into water-mountains bigger than any of ours, and swallows

down great ships bigger than our mill, and makes such a roaring



that you can hear it miles away upon the land. There are great

fish in it five times bigger than a bull, and one old serpent as



lone as our river and as old as all the world, with whiskers like a

man, and a crown of silver on her head.'



Will thought he had never heard anything like this, and he kept on

asking question after question about the world that lay away down



the river, with all its perils and marvels, until the old miller

became quite interested himself, and at last took him by the hand



and led him to the hilltop that overlooks the valley and the plain.

The sun was near setting, and hung low down in a cloudless sky.



Everything was defined and glorified in golden light. Will had

never seen so great an expanse of country in his life; he stood and



gazed with all his eyes. He could see the cities, and the woods

and fields, and the bright curves of the river, and far away to



where the rim of the plain trenched along the shining heavens. An

over-mastering emotion seized upon the boy, soul and body; his



heart beat so thickly that he could not breathe; the scene swam

before his eyes; the sun seemed to wheel round and round, and throw



off, as it turned, strange shapes which disappeared with the

rapidity of thought, and were succeeded by others. Will covered



his face with his hands, and burst into a violent fit of tears; and

the poor miller, sadly disappointed and perplexed, saw nothing



better for it than to take him up in his arms and carry him home in

silence.






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