章节正文
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into the bowels of Caledonian earth, and lived there ever after,
from father to son. They were but plain miners. They labored
like convicts at the work of extracting the precious combustible.
It is even believed that the coal miners, like the salt-makers
of that period, were actual slaves.
However that might have been, Simon Ford was proud
of belonging to this ancient family of Scotch miners.
He had worked diligently in the same place where his ancestors
had wielded the pick, the crowbar, and the mattock.
At thirty he was overman of the Dochart pit, the most important
in the Aberfoyle colliery. He was devoted to his trade.
During long years he zealously performed his duty.
His only grief had been to perceive the bed becoming impoverished,
and to see the hour approaching when the seam would be exhausted.
It was then he devoted himself to the search for new veins
in all the Aberfoyle pits, which communicated underground
one with another. He had had the good luck to
discover several during the last period of the working.
His miner's instinct assisted him marvelously, and the engineer,
James Starr, appreciated him highly. It might be said that
he divined the course of seams in the depths of the coal mine
as a hydroscope reveals springs in the bowels of the earth.
He was par excellence the type of a miner whose whole
existence is indissolubly connected with that of his mine.
He had lived there from his birth, and now that the works
were abandoned he wished to live there still. His son Harry
foraged for the subterranean housekeeping; as for himself,
during those ten years he had not been ten times above ground.
"Go up there! What is the good?" he would say, and refused
to leave his black domain. The place was remarkably healthy,
subject to an equable temperature; the old overman endured
neither the heat of summer nor the cold of winter.
His family enjoyed good health; what more could he desire?
But at heart he felt depressed. He missed the former
animation, movement, and life in the well-worked pit.
He was, however, supported by one fixed idea. "No, no! the mine
is not exhausted!" he repeated.
And that man would have given serious offense who could have ventured
to express before Simon Ford any doubt that old Aberfoyle would
one day revive! He had never given up the hope of discovering
some new bed which would restore the mine to its past splendor.
Yes, he would willingly, had it been necessary, have resumed
the miner's pick, and with his still stout arms vigorously attacked
the rock. He went through the dark galleries, sometimes alone,
sometimes with his son, examining, searching for signs of coal,
only to return each day, wearied, but not in despair, to the cottage.
Madge, Simon's faithfulcompanion, his "gude-wife," to use
the Scotch term, was a tall, strong, comely woman. Madge had no
wish to leave the Dochart pit any more than had her husband.
She shared all his hopes and regrets. She encouraged him,
she urged him on, and talked to him in a way which cheered the heart
of the old overman. "Aberfoyle is only asleep," she would say.
"You are right about that, Simon. This is but a rest,
it is not death!"
Madge, as well as the others, was perfectly satisfied to live
independent of the outer world, and was the center of the happiness
enjoyed by the little family in their dark cottage.
The engineer was eagerly expected. Simon Ford was standing at his door,
and as soon as Harry's lamp announced the arrival of his former viewer
he advanced to meet him.
"Welcome, Mr. Starr!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing under
the roof of schist. "Welcome to the old overman's cottage!
Though it is buried fifteen hundred feet under the earth,
our house is not the less hospitable."
"And how are you, good Simon?" asked James Starr, grasping the hand
which his host held out to him.
"Very well, Mr. Starr. How could I be otherwise here,
sheltered from the inclemencies of the weather?
Your ladies who go to Newhaven or Portobello in the summer time
would do much better to pass a few months in the coal mine
of Aberfoyle! They would run no risk here of catching a heavy cold,
as they do in the damp streets of the old capital."
"I'm not the man to contradict you, Simon," answered James Starr,
glad to find the old man just as he used to be. "Indeed, I wonder why
I do not change my home in the Canongate for a cottage near you."
"And why not, Mr. Starr? I know one of your old miners who would
be truly pleased to have only a partition wall between you and him."
from father to son. They were but plain miners. They labored
like convicts at the work of extracting the precious combustible.
It is even believed that the coal miners, like the salt-makers
of that period, were actual slaves.
However that might have been, Simon Ford was proud
of belonging to this ancient family of Scotch miners.
He had worked diligently in the same place where his ancestors
had wielded the pick, the crowbar, and the mattock.
At thirty he was overman of the Dochart pit, the most important
in the Aberfoyle colliery. He was devoted to his trade.
During long years he zealously performed his duty.
His only grief had been to perceive the bed becoming impoverished,
and to see the hour approaching when the seam would be exhausted.
It was then he devoted himself to the search for new veins
in all the Aberfoyle pits, which communicated underground
one with another. He had had the good luck to
discover several during the last period of the working.
His miner's instinct assisted him marvelously, and the engineer,
James Starr, appreciated him highly. It might be said that
he divined the course of seams in the depths of the coal mine
as a hydroscope reveals springs in the bowels of the earth.
He was par excellence the type of a miner whose whole
existence is indissolubly connected with that of his mine.
He had lived there from his birth, and now that the works
were abandoned he wished to live there still. His son Harry
foraged for the subterranean housekeeping; as for himself,
during those ten years he had not been ten times above ground.
"Go up there! What is the good?" he would say, and refused
to leave his black domain. The place was remarkably healthy,
subject to an equable temperature; the old overman endured
neither the heat of summer nor the cold of winter.
His family enjoyed good health; what more could he desire?
But at heart he felt depressed. He missed the former
animation, movement, and life in the well-worked pit.
He was, however, supported by one fixed idea. "No, no! the mine
is not exhausted!" he repeated.
And that man would have given serious offense who could have ventured
to express before Simon Ford any doubt that old Aberfoyle would
one day revive! He had never given up the hope of discovering
some new bed which would restore the mine to its past splendor.
Yes, he would willingly, had it been necessary, have resumed
the miner's pick, and with his still stout arms vigorously attacked
the rock. He went through the dark galleries, sometimes alone,
sometimes with his son, examining, searching for signs of coal,
only to return each day, wearied, but not in despair, to the cottage.
Madge, Simon's faithfulcompanion, his "gude-wife," to use
the Scotch term, was a tall, strong, comely woman. Madge had no
wish to leave the Dochart pit any more than had her husband.
She shared all his hopes and regrets. She encouraged him,
she urged him on, and talked to him in a way which cheered the heart
of the old overman. "Aberfoyle is only asleep," she would say.
"You are right about that, Simon. This is but a rest,
it is not death!"
Madge, as well as the others, was perfectly satisfied to live
independent of the outer world, and was the center of the happiness
enjoyed by the little family in their dark cottage.
The engineer was eagerly expected. Simon Ford was standing at his door,
and as soon as Harry's lamp announced the arrival of his former viewer
he advanced to meet him.
"Welcome, Mr. Starr!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing under
the roof of schist. "Welcome to the old overman's cottage!
Though it is buried fifteen hundred feet under the earth,
our house is not the less hospitable."
"And how are you, good Simon?" asked James Starr, grasping the hand
which his host held out to him.
"Very well, Mr. Starr. How could I be otherwise here,
sheltered from the inclemencies of the weather?
Your ladies who go to Newhaven or Portobello in the summer time
would do much better to pass a few months in the coal mine
of Aberfoyle! They would run no risk here of catching a heavy cold,
as they do in the damp streets of the old capital."
"I'm not the man to contradict you, Simon," answered James Starr,
glad to find the old man just as he used to be. "Indeed, I wonder why
I do not change my home in the Canongate for a cottage near you."
"And why not, Mr. Starr? I know one of your old miners who would
be truly pleased to have only a partition wall between you and him."
- cottage [´kɔtidʒ]
n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词) - neighboring [´neibəriŋ] a.邻近的；接壤的 (初中英语单词)
- formerly [´fɔ:məli] ad.从前，以前 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- cathedral [kə´θi:drəl] n.大教堂 (初中英语单词)
- wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
- pierce [piəs] v.刺穿；突破；洞察 (初中英语单词)
- advanced [əd´vɑ:nst] a.先进的；高级的 (初中英语单词)
- remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
- principal [´prinsəpəl] a.主要的 n.负责人 (初中英语单词)
- gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊；美术馆；长廊 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- dwelling [´dweliŋ] n.住所；寓所 (初中英语单词)
- mechanical [mi´kænikəl] a.机械的；力学的 (初中英语单词)
- actual [´æktʃuəl] a.现实的；实际的 (初中英语单词)
- diligently [´dilidʒəntli] ad.勤奋地 (初中英语单词)
- perceive [pə´si:v] vt.察觉；看出；领悟 (初中英语单词)
- instinct [´instiŋkt] n.本能；直觉；天资 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- offense [ə´fens] n.冒犯；触怒；犯法 (初中英语单词)
- restore [ri´stɔ:] vt.(使)恢复；修复 (初中英语单词)
- despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
- faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- eagerly [´i:gəli] ad.渴望地，急切地 (初中英语单词)
- arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- ladder [´lædə] n.梯子；阶梯 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- whilst [wailst] conj.当…时候；虽然 (高中英语单词)
- singular [´siŋgjulə] a.单一的；非凡的 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- highland [´hailənd] n.山地，高地 (高中英语单词)
- mining [´mainiŋ] n.采矿；矿业 (高中英语单词)
- belgium [´beldʒəm] n.比利时 (高中英语单词)
- affirm [ə´fə:m] vt.肯定，断言，证实 (高中英语单词)
- regularly [´regjuləli] ad.有规律地；经常地 (高中英语单词)
- conqueror [´kɔŋkərə] n.征服者，胜利者 (高中英语单词)
- scotch [skɔtʃ] vt.&n.刻痕(于)；划伤 (高中英语单词)
- partition [pɑ:´tiʃən] n.分割；划分 (高中英语单词)
- sandstone [´sændstəun] n.砂岩 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- glimmer [´glimə] n.&vi.闪光 (英语四级单词)
- designate [´dezignit, -neit] vt.标明；任命 (英语四级单词)
- lesser [´lesə] a.较小的；次要的 (英语四级单词)
- habitation [,hæbi´teiʃən] n.居住；住所 (英语四级单词)
- scottish [´skɔtiʃ, ´skɑtiʃ] a.&n.苏格兰人(的) (英语四级单词)
- lastly [´lɑ:stli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
- devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身…的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)
- marvelously [´mɑ:viləsli] ad.奇异地；奇迹般地 (英语四级单词)
- excellence [´eksələns] n.优秀；杰出；优点 (英语四级单词)
- domain [də´mein,dəu-] n.领土；版图；范围 (英语四级单词)
- remarkably [ri´mɑ:kəbli] ad.非凡地；显著地 (英语四级单词)
- willingly [´wiliŋli] ad.情愿地，乐意地 (英语四级单词)
- vigorously [´vigərəsli] ad.精力旺盛地；健壮地 (英语四级单词)
- comely [´kʌmli] a.秀丽的；文雅的 (英语四级单词)
- contradict [,kɔntrə´dikt] v.反驳；否认 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
- preoccupied [pri´ɔkjupaid] a.被先占的；出神的 (英语六级单词)
- ventilation [,venti´leiʃən] n.通风(设备)；换气 (英语六级单词)
- density [´densiti] n.浓(稠)密；密度 (英语六级单词)
- abandoned [ə´bændənd] a.被抛弃的；无约束的 (英语六级单词)
- housekeeping [´haus,ki:piŋ] n.家务管理，家政 (英语六级单词)
- depressed [di´prest] a.消沉的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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