37.The Reaper Whose Name Is Death死神降临-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《绿山墙的安妮Anne of Green Gables》下

绿山墙的安婉 银行,可是老艾比先生是爸爸的挚友,马修总是 把钱存进他的银行。马修说不管哪家银行,只要 ① nominal /'npminal a. 名义 老艾比管事,就错不了。” 上的 “我想许多年来他只是名义上管事了,”安呢 说, “他已经很老了,实际上他的侄子们掌管了 这家银行。” “嗯,蕾切尔一告诉我们这件事,我就想让马 修立即把钱取出来,可是他说他要考虑一下。拉 塞尔先生昨天告诉他银行什么事也没有。” ② companionship /kam'paenjonfip/ n. 陪伴 安呢和大自然做伴度过了美好的一天。她永 远忘不了这一天,在傍晚和马修一起穿过情人径到 后面的牧场看了奶牛。马修低着头慢慢走着,安婉 ③erect /rrekt/a. 笔直 崩崩跳跳地跟着他,她高高的个子,身材挺拔。 “马修,您今天干得太累了,”安娓责备地 说, “您为什么不能放松一些呢?” “呃,我好像做不到,”马修说,“不过我是老 了,安婉,总是忘了自己的岁数。好啦,我习惯了 ④hamess/ha:ns/n. 马具,保 使劲干活儿,宁肯在干活的时候死掉。” 险带,安全带 “要是我是那个您本来想接的男孩儿,”安呢 沉思着说,“我现在就能给您帮大忙了,就能让 您省好多劲儿。” “噢,安呢,我宁可要你一个,也不要一打 男孩儿,”马修轻轻拍拍她的手说,“请你记 住--我不要那一打男孩儿。呃,我想得艾弗里 奖学金的不是男孩儿吧?是个姑娘--我的姑 娘--我为之骄傲的姑娘。” 他走进院子的时候冲她羞涩地笑了笑。那个 银色的夜晚永远留在安呢的记忆中,那一夜安宁而 sanctify /'saenktifar/ v. 使神 美丽,令人心醉。这是悲哀降临到她生活之中的前 圣,使圣洁 夜,一旦那冷酷无情而又不可抗拒的打击降临在头 上, 生活就永远不会再是过去那个样子了。 ·387· Chapter XXXVII The Reaper Whose Name ls Death "Matthew-Matth ew-what is the matter? Matthew, are you sick?" It was Marilla who spoke, alarm in every jerky^{①} word. Anne came through the hall,in time to hear her and to see Matthew standing in the porch doorway, a folded paper in his hand, and his face strangely drawn② and gray. Anne sprang across the kitchen to him at the same moment as Marilla. They were both too late: before they could reach him Matthew had fallen across the threshold③}. “He's fainted," gasped Marilla. “Anne, run for Martin-quick, quick! He's at the barn." Martin, the hired man, started at once for the doctor, calling at Orchard Slope on his way to send Mr. and Mrs. Barry over. Mrs. Lynde, who was there on an errand, came too. She looked at their anxious faces sorrowfully and the tears came into her eyes. "Oh, Marilla," she said gravely④. "I don't think-we can do anythingfor him." .388. 第三十七章 死神降临 “马修--马修--你怎么了?马修,你病 了吗?” ① jerky/d3a:kr/a. 急动的,抽 是玛丽拉在说话,惊慌得每个字都在颤抖。 动的 安呢穿过门厅进来,就在这时她听到玛丽拉的惊 叫声,看见马修站在走廊门口,手里拿着一张折 叠的报纸,他的脸在奇怪地扭曲、变白。安呢和 ② drawn /dr2:na. 惟悴的 玛丽拉同时飞快地穿过厨房向他奔过去。她们两 个人都晚了,她们还没有跑到马修身边,他就横 ③ threshold /Orefhoold/ n. 门 躺在门槛上了。 槛 “他昏过去了,”玛丽拉上气不接下气地说, “安婉,去喊马丁-快,快!他在牲口棚。” 马工是雇来的伙计,他立刻动身去请医生。 顺路在果园坡把巴里夫妇喊来了。林德太太正在 那儿有点事,也跑来了。 她悲哀地望着她们焦急的面孔,泪水涌上了 眼眶。 “俟,玛丽拉,”她严肃地说,“我看- ④gravely /qreivl/ ad. 严肃 地,庄重地 切都没有用了。” “林德太太,您不是说--您不是说马 ·389· Anne of Green Gabfes "Mrs. Lynde, you don't think-you can't think Matthew is-is-" Anne could not say the dreadful word: she turned sick and pallid{}. "Child, yes, I'm afraid of it. Look at his face. When you've seen that look as often as I have you'll know what it means." Anne looked at the still face and there beheld the seal of the Great Presence. When the doctor came he said that death had been instantaneous and probably painless, caused in all likelihood by some sudden shock. The secret of the shock was discovered to be in the paper. It contained an account of the failure of the Abbey Bank. The news spread quickly through Avonlea, and all day friends and neighbors thronged Green Gables and came and went on errands② of kindness for the dead and living The Barrys and Mrs. Lynde stayed with them that night. Diana, going to the east gable, where Anne was standing at her window, said gently:"Anne dear, would you like to have me sleep with you tonight?" "Thank you, Diana." Anne looked earnestly into her friend's face. "I think you won't misunderstand me when I say I want to be alone. I'm not afraid. I haven't been alone one minute since it happened-and I want to be. Half the time it seems to me that Matthew can't be dead: and the other half it seems as if he must have been dead for a long time and I've had this horrible dull ache ever since." Diana did not quite understand. But she went away kindly, leaving Anne alone to keep her first vigil{③}with sorrow Anne hoped that the tears would come in solitude{. But no tears came at first, only the same horrible dull{}ache of misery^{} that kept on aching until she fell asleep, worn out with the day's pain and excitement. In the night she awakened. She could see Matthew's face smiling at .390. 绿山墙的安婉 修--他--”安妃说不出那个可怕的字眼,她 ①pallid/paelld/ a. 苍白的,暗 全身发软,脸色繁白。 淡的 “孩子,是的,恐怕是这样的。看他的脸。 如果你像我一样常常会看到这种面容,你就会知 道这意味着什么了。” 安呢望着那张宁静的脸,上面看得出死亡的 征兆。 医生赶来了,他说是猝死,可能毫无痛苦, 十有八九是由某种突然打击引起的。人们在马修 拿着的报纸上发现了秘密,上面登有艾比银行破 产的报道。 消息很快传遍了埃文利,整整一天绿山墙挤 ②errand/erond/ n. 差使,差 满了人,朋友和邻居们来来往往,对死者和家属 事 表示慰问。 巴里一家和林德太太那天晚上和她们在一起 戴安哪去了东侧房,轻轻地对站在窗前的安呢说 “安呢,亲爱的,你愿意我今晚和你一起睡吗?” “谢谢你,戴安娜,”安呢诚恳地望着朋友的 脸,“如果我说我愿意一个人待着,你不会误解我 吧。我不害怕。马修去世后,我一分钟都没有安静 过--我想静一静。有一半时间我似乎觉得马修 不可能已经死了,另一半时间,似乎他一定死去很 长时间了。他死去以后,我心里一直隐隐作痛。” 戴安哪没有完全理解。但是她平和地走开 ③ vigil/vidsil n. 守夜 了,留下安婉一个人度过她第一个悲哀之夜。 ④ solitude /splrtju:d/ n. 孤独 安晁希望泪水能在孤寂中流淌。但是起初眼 dull/dl呆滞的,迟键 泪没有流下来,只有那可怕的悲伤的隐痛依然折 的:(痛苦)不剧烈的 misery /mzari/ n. 痛苦,悲 磨着她,直到她睡着为止,一天来的痛苦和激动 惨的境遇,苦难 把她累跨了。 夜里她醒了。她能看见马修正朝她微笑,就 .391· Anne of Green Gabfes her as he had smiled when they parted at the gate that last evening-she could hear his voice saying,"My girl-my girl that I'm proud of." Then the tears came and Anne wept her heart out. Marilla heard her and crept^{①} in to comfort her. “There-there-don't cry so, dearie. It can't bring him back. It- it-isn't right to cry so. I knew that today, but I couldn't help it then. He'd always been such a good, kind brother to me-but God knows best." “Oh, just let me cry, Marilla,"sobbed Anne. "The tears don't hurt me like that ache did. Stay here for a little while with me and keep your arm round me-so. I couldn't have Diana stay, she's good and kind and sweet-but it's not her sorrow-she's outside of it and she couldn't come close enough to my heart to help me. It's our sorrow-yours and mine. Oh, Marilla, what will we do without him?" "We've got each other, Anne. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here-if you'd never come." Two days afterwards they carried Matthew Cuthbert over his homestead threshold; and then Avonlea settled back to its usual placidity and even at Green Gables affairs slipped into their old groove and work was done and duties fulfilled{②}with regularity③ as before. Anne, new to grief, felt something like shame and remorse④when she discovered that the beautiful world of blossom and love and friendship had lost none of its power to please her fancy and thrill her heart, that life still called to her with many insistent voices. "It seems like disloyalty{}to Matthew, somehow, to find pleasure in these things now that he has gone," she said wistfully} to Mrs. Allan one evening, "I miss him so much-all the time-and yet, Mrs. Allan. the world and life seem very beautiful and interesting to me for all. Today Diana said something funny and I found myself laughing. I .392· 绿山墙的安婉 像前一天晚上他们在门口分手时那样一一她听见 他说:“我的姑娘--我为之骄傲的姑娘。”接 ① creep/kri:p/ v. 爬 着,泪水喷涌而出,安呢哭得死去活来。玛丽拉 听到她的哭声,悄悄进来安慰她 “好了--好了--别这样哭了,亲爱的。 泪水不能使他复活。这--这--这样哭不好。 我今天明白了这一点,可是当时我忍不住。对我 来说,他一直是那么一位仁慈善良的好哥哥 上帝最清楚了。” “俟,就让我哭吧,玛丽拉,”安娓呜咽着 说, “眼泪对我的伤害不如那种隐痛厉害,在这 儿陪我待一会儿吧,楼着我一-就这样。我不能 让戴安娜留在这儿,她善良,体贴人一-可是这 不是她的悲伤一一她是外人,不能够紧紧贴着我 的心来帮助我。这是我们的悲伤一一您的和我 的。噢,玛丽拉,没有他我们可怎么办呀?” “我还有你,你也还有我,安呢。我不知道 如果你不在这儿一一如果你根本就没来的话,我 该怎么办。” ②fulfill/fol'fiVyv.厦行,完成 两天以后,他们把马修抬出了家门,然后 ③ regularity /.reqjo'laeritr/ n. 埃文利恢复了往日的平静,即使在绿山墙,生活也 规律性,规则性 ④ remorse /rt'mo:s n. 懊悔 悄悄回到原来的轨道,像以前一样按部就班,干该 悔恨 干的事。从来没有经历过悲痛的安呢,发现拥有鲜 花、爱和友谊的美好世界丝毫没有失去其满足她的 想象力和震撼她的心灵的力量,生活仍然经常执着 dislovalty /drs'lpialti/ n. 不 地召唤着她,她对此感到有些羞愧和自责。 忠实 “马修已经走了,我还为这些事情高兴,这 wistfully /wistfal/ ad. 愁问 地 好像对他有些不忠,”一天晚上她愁眉不展地对 阿伦太太说,“我非常想念他--一直在想-- 阿伦太太,可是对我来说世界和生活似平仍然非 .393· Anne of Green Gabfes thought when it happened I could never laugh again. And it somehow seems as if I oughtn't to." "When Matthew was here he liked to hear you laugh and he liked to know that you found pleasure in the pleasant things around you," said Mrs. Allan gently. "He is just away now; and he likes to know it just the same. I am sure we should not shut our hearts against the healing influences that nature offers us. But I can understand your feeling. I think we all experience the same thing. We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us." "I was down to the graveyard to plant a rosebush^{①} on Matthew's grave this afternoon," said Anne dreamily. "It made me feel glad that I could plant it by his grave-as if I were doing something that must please him in taking it there to be near him. I must go home now. Marilla is all alone and she gets lonely at twilight." "She will be lonelier still, I fear, when you go away again to college,"said Mrs. Allan. Anne did not reply; she said good night and went slowly back to green Gables. Marilla was sitting on the front door-steps and Anne sat down beside her. "Doctor Spencer was here while you were away,"Marilla said. "He says that the specialist will be in town tomorrow and he insists that I must go in and have my eyes examined. I suppose I'd better go and have it over. I'll be more than thankful if the man can give me the right kind of glasses to suit my eyes. You won't mind staying here alone while I'm away, will you? Martin will have to drive me in and there's ironing and baking to do." "I shall be all right. Diana will come over for company for me. I .394· 绿山墙的安婉 常美好有趣。今天戴安哪讲了一些有趣的事,我 发现我笑了。我以前以为马修去世了,我再也不 会笑了。我似乎不应当笑。” “马修活着的时候,他喜欢听到你笑,他高 兴知道你为身边快乐的事情感到高兴,”阿伦太 太慢声细语地说,“现在他只是离开我们了,他 还是愿意知道你快乐。我肯定我们不应当关闭心 扉,不让大自然来治愈我们心灵的创伤。不过我 理解你的感情。我想我们都会有同样的想法。我 们认为当我们热爱的人不在了,不能与我们分享 欢乐了,可我们却还能高兴起来,这太不该了; ① rosebush /razbof/ n. 玫理 当我们发现自己对生活重新感兴趣了的时候,便 仿佛觉得自已没有真正悲哀似的。” “我下午去过墓地了,在马修的墓旁种了一 丛玫瑰,”安呢出神地说,“我很高兴能在他的 墓旁栽种它--把这种花带到他身旁,好像是一 件必定会让他高兴的事。我现在必须回家了。玛 丽拉一个人在家,她在黄昏时会感到寂寞的。” “我担心你再离家去上大学的时候,她会更 寂寞的。”阿伦太太说。 安婉没有回答,她道了晚安,慢慢走回绿山 墙。玛丽拉正坐在门前的台阶上,安呢在她旁边 坐了下来。 “你出去的时候,斯潘塞大夫来了,”玛丽拉 说, “他说那位眼科专家明天到城里去,他一定 要我进城检查眼睛。我想我最好去详细查查。要 是这位大夫能给我配一副合适的眼镜,那我可谢天 谢地了。我不在的时候,你一个人留在家没事吧 马丁得赶车送我去,你可以慰衣服,烤些糕点。” ·395· Anne of Green Gabfes shall attend to the ironing and baking beautifully-you needn't fear that I'll starch{①} the handkerchiefs or flavor②} the cake with liniment③." Marilla laughed. “What a girl you were for making mistakes in them days,Anne. You were always getting into scrapes. I did use to think you were possessed. Do you mind the time you dyed your hair?" “Yes, indeed. I shall never forget it,"smiled Anne, touching the heavy braid of hair that was wound about her shapely head. "I did suffer terribly over my hair and my freckles. My freckles are really gone; and people are nice enough to tell me my hair is auburn now-all but Josie Pye. Marilla, I've almost decided to give up trying to like Josie Pye." "Josie is a Pye," said Marilla sharply, "so she can't help being disagreeable. Is Josie going to teach?" “No, she is going back to Queen's next year. So are Moody Spurgeon and Charlie Sloane." “Gilbert Blythe is going to teach too,isn't he?" "Yes"-briefly. “What a nice-looking fellow he is," said Marilla absently. "I saw him in church last Sunday and he seemed so tall and manly. He looks a lot like his father did at the same age. John Blythe was a nice boy. We used to be real good friends, he and I. People called him my beau." Anne looked up with swift interest "Oh, Marilla-and what happened? -why didn't you-" "We had a quarrel. I wouldn't forgive him when he asked me to. I meant to, after awhile④-but I was sulky{} and angry and I wanted to punish him first. He never came back-the Blythes were all mighty independent. But I always felt-rather sorry. I've always kind of wished I'd forgiven him when I had the chance." .396.