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Green Mansions-Part13_W.H.Hudson(1841-1922)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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would laugh to hear it!"



"What do they fear?" I said, for his words had excited my

interest in a great degree.



"Why, sir, would you believe it? They fear this child--my

granddaughter, seated there before you. A poor innocent girl of



seventeen summers, a Christian who knows her Catechism, and would

not harm the smallest thing that God has made--no, not a fly,



which is not regarded on account of its smallness. Why, sir, it

is due to her tender heart that you are safely sheltered here,



instead of being left out of doors in this tempestuous night."

"To her--to this girl?" I returned in astonishment. "Explain,



old man, for I do not know how I was saved."

"Today, senor, through your own heedlessness you were bitten by a



venomous snake."

"Yes, that is true, although I do not know how it came to your



knowledge. But why am I not a dead man, then--have you done

something to save me from the effects of the poison?"



"Nothing. What could I do so long after you were bitten? When a

man is bitten by a snake in a solitary place he is in God's



hands. He will live or die as God wills. There is nothing to be

done. But surely, sir, you remember that my poor grandchild was



with you in the wood when the snake bit you?"

"A girl was there--a strange girl I have seen and heard before



when I have walked in the forest. But not this girl--surely not

this girl!"



"No other," said he, carefully rolling up another cigarette.

"It is not possible!" I returned.



"III would you have fared, sir, had she not been there. For

after being bitten, you rushed away into the thickest part of the



wood, and went about in a circle like a demented person for

Heaven knows how long. But she never left you; she was always



close to you--you might have touched her with your hand. And at

last some good angel who was watching you, in order to stop your



career, made you mad altogether and caused you to jump over a

precipice and lose your senses. And you were no sooner on the



ground than she was with you--ask me not how she got down! And

when she had propped you up against the bank, she came for me.



Fortunately the spot where you had fallen is near--not five

hundred yards from the door. And I, on my part, was willing to



assist her in saving you; for I knew it was no Indian that had

fallen, since she loves not that breed, and they come not here.



It was not an easy task, for you weigh, senor; but between us we

brought you in."



While he spoke, the girl continued sitting in the same listless

attitude as when I first observed her, with eyes cast down and



hands folded in her lap. Recalling that brilliant being in the

wood that had protected the serpent from me and calmed its rage,



I found it hard to believe his words, and still felt a little

incredulous.



"Rime--that is your name, is it not?" I said. "Will you come

here and stand before me, and let me look closely at you?"



"Si, senor." she meekly answered; and removing the things from

her lap, she stood up; then, passing behind the old man, came and



stood before me, her eyes still bent on the ground--a picture of

humility.



She had the figure of the forest girl, but wore now a scanty

faded cotton garment, while the loose cloud of hair was confined



in two plaits and hung down her back. The face also showed the

same delicate lines, but of the brilliant animation and variable



colour and expression there appeared no trace. Gazing at her

countenance as she stood there silent, shy, and spiritless before



me, the image of her brighter self came vividly to my mind and I

could not recover from the astonishment I felt at such a



contrast.

Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial



dance among the flowers--a living prismatic gem that changes its

colour with every change of position--how in turning it catches



the sunshine on its burnished neck and gorges plumes--green and

gold and flame-coloured, the beams changing to visible flakes as



they fall, dissolving into nothing, to be succeeded by others and

yet others? In its exquisite form, its changeful splendour, its



swift motions and intervals of aerialsuspension, it is a

creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all






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