【英文文学】The Lady of Big Shanty.docx

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1、【英文文学】The Lady of Big ShantyTO THE READERThis story, written by a man who has passed many years of his life in the Adirondack woods, strikes a note not often soundedthe power of the primeval over the human mind.Once abandoned in the wilderness, wholly dependent upon what can be wrested from its clut

2、ch to prolong existence, all the ordinary standards and ambitions of life become as naught: for neither love, hatred, revenge, honour, money, jewels, or social success will bring a cup of water, a handful of corn or a coal of fire. Under this torture Nature once more becomes king and man again an at

3、om; his judgment clarified, his heart stripped naked, his soul turned inside out. The untamed, mighty, irresistible primitive is now to be reckoned with, and a lie will no longer serve.Such is the power of the primeval, and for the unique way in which it has been treated between these covers, the fa

4、ther takes off his hat to the son.F. HOPKINSON SMITH.September, 1909.CHAPTER ONEIt was the luncheon hour, and The Players was crowded with its members; not only actors, but men of every profession, from the tall, robust architect to the quiet surgeon tucked away among the cushions of the corner diva

5、n. In the hallgiving sound advice, perhaps, to a newly fledged tragediansat some dear, gray-haired old gentleman in white socks who puffed silently at a long cigar, while from out the low-ceiled, black-oak dining room, resplendent in pewter and hazy with tobacco smoke, came intermittent outbursts of

6、 laughter. It was the hour when idlers and workers alike throw off the labours of the day for a quiet chat with their fellows.Only one man in the group was restless. This was a young fellow who kept watch at the window overlooking the Park. That he was greatly worried was evident from the two tense

7、furrows in his brow, and from the way his eyes scanned the street below.The devil! he grumbled. I wonder if Billys missed his trainanother Adirondack express late, I suppose. He flicked the ashes from his cigarette and, wheeling sharply, touched a bell.John, he said, as the noiseless old steward ent

8、ered.Yes, Mr. Randall.Find out at the desk if a Mr. William Holcomb from Moose River has called or telephoned.Very good, sir.Hes a tall, sun-burned young man, Johnand he may be waiting below.You understand.Ill go and see, sir, and the steward turned.And, Johntell August we shall be five at luncheon.

9、The next moment two hands gripped him from behind by both shoulders.Well! Im glad youre here, Keene, at any rate! cried Randall as he smashed the bell hard. Two dry Martinisthis to the yellow-waistcoated steward now at his elbow. Its Billy Holcomb youve come to meet. He wrote me he was coming to New

10、 York on business and I made him promise to come here first. He and I hunted together last fall and I wanted you and Brompton to know him. What Im afraid of is that he has missed the night express. Moose Rivers a long ways from the railway, and you know what an Adirondack road is this time of year.

11、I hope The Players wont scare him.Oh! well take care of him, laughed Keene good-humouredly. Thank God hes not a celebrity; Im sick of celebrities. Itll be a treat to meet a plain human being. Hello! here comes Brompton!Randall rose to his feet.Glad you could come, old man. Theres only five of usyou,

12、 and Keene, Sam Thayor, and a friend of mine from the woods. Touch the bell and give your order.Again the noiseless John appeared.Any news, John?Yes, sir; Mr. Holcomb is waiting for you below, and Mr. Thayor has telephoned he will be here in a moment.Jack started for the stairs.Good! he cried. Ill b

13、e back in a second.If the actor and Keene had expected to see a raw-boned country boy, reticent and ill at ease, they got over it at the first glance. What they saw approaching with his arm in their hosts was a young man of twenty-three, straight as an arrow, with the eyes of an eagle; whose clean-c

14、ut features were so full of human understanding that both the actor and Keene fell to wondering if Randall was not joking when he labeled him as hailing from so primitive a settlement as Moose River. To these qualities there was added the easy grace of a man of the world in the pink of condition. On

15、ly his dark gray pepper-and-salt clothesthey had been purchased in Utica the day beforeconfirmed Randalls diagnosis, and even these fitted him in a way that showed both his good taste and his common sense. The introductions over and the party seated, Randall turned again to his friend.I worried abou

16、t you, Billy; what happened?Oh, we had a washout just this side of Utica, and the train was nearly three hours late. But I had no trouble, he said with a quiet smile. I came down a-footlets seeFourth Avenue, isnt it? As soon as I saw the Park I knew I was on the right trail, he laughed, his white te

17、eth gleaming in contrast with his nut-brown skin.Oh, Id trust you anywhere in the world, trail or no trail. Thats the way you got me out of Bog Eddy that night, and thats the way you saved Sam Thayor. Hes coming, you know. Wants to meet you the worst kind. Im keeping you for a surprise, but hell hug

18、 himself all over when he finds out its you.The young man raised his eyes in doubt.Thayor? I dont know as IWhy, of course you remember the Thayors, Billy! They were at LongLake three or four summers ago.Oh! a short, thick-set man, with grayish hair? replied Holcomb in his low, well-modulated voiceth

19、e voice of a man used to the silence of the big woods. Lets see, he musedwasnt it he that cut himself so badly with an axe over at Otter Pond? Yes, I remember.So does Thayor, Billy, and itll be a good many years before he forgets it, declared Jack. You saved his life, he says. Thats one thing he wan

20、ts to see you for, and another is that hes played out and needs a rest.Bless me! cried Brompton in the tragic tones of his profession. You saved his life, me boy?Holcomb, for the first time, appeared embarrassed.Well, thats mighty good of him to think so, but I didnt do much, he replied modestly. No

21、w I come to think of it, he was badly cut and I helped him down to Doc Rands at Bog River. That was, as I figure it, about three years agowasnt it, Randall?You mean, returned Randall, that you took him down on your back, and if you hadnt Sam Thayor would have bled to death.Bless my soul! cried the a

22、ctor.Well, you see, continued Holcomb ignoring the interruption, there are some that can handle an axe just as easily as some fellows can fiddle, and again there are some that cant. Its just a little knack, thats all, gentlemen, and, of course, Mr. Thayor wasnt used to chopping.The only thing Sam Th

23、ayor can handle is money, interposed Keene.Hes got millions, Billymillions!Millions, chuckled Randall; I should think so. He owns about five of em. As he spoke he half rose from his chair and waved his hand to a well-dressed, gray-haired man whose eyes were searching the crowded hall. Thayor! he sho

24、uted.As the new-comer moved closer the whole group rose to greet him.Im afraid, my dear Jack, Ive kept you all waiting, the banker began. A special meeting of the Board detained me longer than I had anticipated. I hope you will forgive me. I am not usually late, I assure you, gentlemen. This for me?

25、 and he picked up his waiting cocktail.Holcomb, although his eyes had not wavered from Thayor, had not yet greeted him. That a man so quiet and unostentatious belonged to the favoured rich was a new experience to him. He was also waiting for some sign of recognition from the financial potentate, the

26、 democracy of the woods being in his blood.Randall waited an instant and seeing Thayors lack of recognition blurted out in his hearty way:Why, its Holcomb, Sam; Billy Holcomb of Moose River.Thayor turned and formally extended his hand.Oh, I beg your pardon! I then his whole manner changed. Why, Holc

27、omb! he exclaimed with delightful surprise. Oh, Im so glad to see you! Anderyour dear fatherhow is he?First rate, thank you, Mr. Thayor. It seems kind of natural to see you again. Father was speaking about you the very day he left. He went on Monday to Fort Ti with my mother for a visit.Ah, indeed!

28、returned Thayor, drawing up a chair beside the boy, and before even the glasses were entirely emptied the two had begun talking of the woods and all it held in store for them, the banker declaring, as he followed Randall into the dining room, that if he could arrange his business he would make a qui

29、ck trip to the Lake with Holcomb as guide.If the luncheon that followed was a surprise to the stranger from Moose River, Holcombs modest naturalness and innate good breeding were a revelation to Randalls friends. This increased to positive enthusiasm when one of the actors massive turquoise rings st

30、ruck the rim of the strangers wine glass, nearly spilling the contents into Holcombs lap, and which Holcombs deft touch righted with the quickness of a squirrel, before a drop left its edge, a feat of dexterity which brought from the actor in his best stage voice:Zounds, sir! A little more and I sho

31、uld have deluged youHolcomb answering with a smile:Dont mention it. I saw it coming my way.Even those at the adjoining tables caught the dominating influence of the man as they watched him sitting easily in his chair listening to the stories of the Emperor of the First Empireas Brompton was called,

32、he having played the partthe young woodsman joining in with experiences of his own as refreshing in tone and as clear in statement as a mountain spring.Suddenly, and apparently without anything leading up to it, and as if some haunting memory of his own had prompted it, Thayor leaned forward and tou

33、ched Billys arm, and with a certain meaning in his voice asked:There is something I have wanted to ask you ever since I came, Holcomb. Tell me about that poor hide-outthe man your father fed in the woods that night. Did he get away?Holcomb straightened up and his face became suddenly grave. The subj

34、ect was evidently a distasteful one.Whom do you mean, Mr. Thayor?I dont know his name; I only remember the incident, but it has haunted me ever since.You mean Dinsmore.What has become of him?I havent heard lately. He evidently did not want to discuss it furthercertainly not in a crowded room full of

35、 strangers.But you must have learned something of him. Tell meI want to know.I never felt so sorry for anyone in my life.Holcomb looked Thayor squarely in the face, read its sincerity and said slowly, lowering his voice:He is still in hidingwas the last time I saw him.When was that? asked Thayor, hi

36、s eyes boring into the young woodsmans.About a month agoEd Munsey and I were cutting a trail at the time.Would you mind telling me? persisted Thayor. I have always thought that poor fellow was ill treated. Your father thought so too.Holcomb dropped his eyes to the cloth, rolled a crumb of bread betw

37、een his fingers and said, as if he was thinking aloud:Ill treated! I should say so! Then he lifted his head, drew his chair closer to the group, ran his eyes around the room to be sure of his audience, and said in still lower tones:What Im going to tell you, gentlemen, is between us, remember. None

38、of you, I am sure, would want to get him into any more trouble, if you knew the circumstances as I do. One night about nine oclock, during a pouring rain, Ed and I lay in a swamp under a lean-to. Ed was asleep, and I was dozing off, when I heard something step in the brush on the other side of the f

39、ire. I couldnt see anything, it was so dark, but it sounded just like an animal slouching and stepping about as light as it could. It would stop suddenly and then Id hear the brush crack again on the left.Thayor was leaning now with his elbows on the table, as absorbed as a child listening to a fair

40、y tale. The others sat with their eyes fixed on the speaker.Any unusual noise at night must be looked into, and I threw a handful of birch bark on the fire and reached for Eds Winchester. I had to crawl over him to get it, and when I got my hand on it and turned around a sandy-haired fellow was stan

41、ding over me with a gun cocked and pointed at my head.I knew him the minute I laid eyes on him. It was Bob Dinsmore, who killed Jim Bailey over at Long Pond. Hed been hiding out for months. He was not more than thirty years old, but he looked fifty; there was a warrant out for him and a reward to ta

42、ke him dead or alive. He kept the gun pointed, drawing a fine sight on a spot between my left eye and my ear.Hold on, Bob! said I; sit down. He didnt speak, but he lifted the muzzle of his gun a little, and there was a look came into his eyes, half crying, half like a dog cornered to fight.S-s-h! sa

43、id I; youll wake up Ed.I got to kill ye, Bill, said he.Sit down, I said, for I saw he was so weak his thin legs were trembling. Neither Ed nor I are going to give you awaysit down, and I shook Ed. He sat up blinking like an old toad in a hard shower. By whimey! said Ed, staring at Bob as if he had s

44、een a ghost.Im hongry, Bill, said Bob. Bill, Im hongry, and he began to stagger and cry like a baby. I got hold of his rifle and Ed caught him just as he fainted.By and by he came to and Ed and I fixed up a stiff hooker of liquor and some hot tea and gave him a mouthful at a time. Just before daylig

45、ht he rose on one elbow and lay there following us with his eyes, for he was too weak to talk. It seemed as if he was clean beat out and that his nerve was gone. What grit he had he had used up keeping away from the law.Again Holcomb pausedthe round table was as silent as a court room before a verdi

46、ct.Neither Ed nor I liked the idea of being caught with Dinsmore, he resumed, with three counties after him harder than an old dog after a five-pronged buck, so when it came daylight we shifted camp over back of a fire-slash where I knew all hell couldnt find him. We had to carry him most of the way

47、. That was on a Wednesday. We never said anything to him about his killing Baileyhe knew we knew. We fed him the best we knew how. Saturday, long toward night, I killed a small deer, and the broth did him good.In a couple of daysHold on, Ive got ahead of my story; it was Sunday night when Bob said: Boys said he, as near as I can repeat it in his dialectyouve treated me like a humin, but I dassent stay here. It aint fair to you. What I done I done with a reason. Youve heard tell, most likely, that I been seen in Lower Saranac bout three weeks ago, aint ye?