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amy foster-第3章

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Late in the evening Kennedy; breaking a spell



of moodiness that had come over him; returned to



the story。  Smoking his pipe; he paced the long



room from end to end。  A reading…lamp concen…



trated all its light upon the papers on his desk;



and; sitting by the open window; I saw; after the



windless; scorching day; the frigid splendour of a



hazy sea lying motionless under the moon。  Not a



whisper; not a splash; not a stir of the shingle; not



a footstep; not a sigh came up from the earth be…



lownever a sign of life but the scent of climbing



jasmine; and Kennedy's voice; speaking behind me;



passed through the wide casement; to vanish out…



side in a chill and sumptuous stillness。







〃。 。 。  The relations of shipwrecks in the



olden time tell us of much suffering。  Often the



castaways were only saved from drowning to die



miserably from starvation on a barren coast; oth…



ers suffered violent death or else slavery; passing



through years of precarious existence with people



to whom their strangeness was an object of suspi…



cion; dislike or fear。  We read about these things;



and they are very pitiful。  It is indeed hard upon



a man to find himself a lost stranger; helpless;



incomprehensible; and of a mysterious origin; in



some obscure corner of the earth。  Yet amongst all



the adventurers shipwrecked in all the wild parts of



the world there is not one; it seems to me; that ever



had to suffer a fate so simply tragic as the man I



am speaking of; the most innocent of adventurers



cast out by the sea in the bight of this bay; almost



within sight from this very window。







〃He did not know the name of his ship。  Indeed;



in the course of time we discovered he did not even



know that ships had names'like Christian peo…



ple'; and when; one day; from the top of the Tal…



fourd Hill; he beheld the sea lying open to his view;



his eyes roamed afar; lost in an air of wild surprise;



as though he had never seen such a sight before。



And probably he had not。  As far as I could make



out; he had been hustled together with many others



on board an emigrant…ship lying at the mouth of



the Elbe; too bewildered to take note of his sur…



roundings; too weary to see anything; too anxious



to care。  They were driven below into the 'tween…



deck and battened down from the very start。  It



was a low timber dwellinghe would saywith



wooden beams overhead; like the houses in his coun…



try; but you went into it down a ladder。  It was



very large; very cold; damp and sombre; with places



in the manner of wooden boxes where people had to



sleep; one above another; and it kept on rocking all



ways at once all the time。  He crept into one of



these boxes and laid down there in the clothes in



which he had left his home many days before; keep…



ing his bundle and his stick by his side。  People



groaned; children cried; water dripped; the lights



went out; the walls of the place creaked; and every…



thing was being shaken so that in one's little box



one dared not lift one's head。  He had lost touch



with his only companion (a young man from the



same valley; he said); and all the time a great noise



of wind went on outside and heavy blows fell



boom! boom!  An awful sickness overcame him;



even to the point of making him neglect his pray…



ers。  Besides; one could not tell whether it was



morning or evening。  It seemed always to be night



in that place。







〃Before that he had been travelling a long; long



time on the iron track。  He looked out of the win…



dow; which had a wonderfully clear glass in it; and



the trees; the houses; the fields; and the long roads



seemed to fly round and round about him till his



head swam。  He gave me to understand that he had



on his passage beheld uncounted multitudes of peo…



plewhole nationsall dressed in such clothes as



the rich wear。  Once he was made to get out of the



carriage; and slept through a night on a bench in



a house of bricks with his bundle under his head;



and once for many hours he had to sit on a floor of



flat stones dozing; with his knees up and with his



bundle between his feet。  There was a roof over him;



which seemed made of glass; and was so high that



the tallest mountain…pine he had ever seen would



have had room to grow under it。  Steam…machines



rolled in at one end and out at the other。  People



swarmed more than you can see on a feast…day



round the miraculous Holy Image in the yard of



the Carmelite Convent down in the plains where;



before he left his home; he drove his mother in a



wooden carta pious old woman who wanted to



offer prayers and make a vow for his safety。  He



could not give me an idea of how large and lofty



and full of noise and smoke and gloom; and clang



of iron; the place was; but some one had told him



it was called Berlin。  Then they rang a bell; and



another steam…machine came in; and again he was



taken on and on through a land that wearied his



eyes by its flatness without a single bit of a hill to



be seen anywhere。  One more night he spent shut



up in a building like a good stable with a litter of



straw on the floor; guarding his bundle amongst a



lot of men; of whom not one could understand a



single word he said。  In the morning they were all



led down to the stony shores of an extremely broad



muddy river; flowing not between hills but between



houses that seemed immense。  There was a steam…



machine that went on the water; and they all stood



upon it packed tight; only now there were with



them many women and children who made much



noise。  A cold rain fell; the wind blew in his face;



he was wet through; and his teeth chattered。  He



and the young man from the same valley took each



other by the hand。







〃They thought they were being taken to Amer…



ica straight away; but suddenly the steam…machine



bumped against the side of a thing like a house on



the water。  The walls were smooth and black; and



there uprose; growing from the roof as it were;



bare trees in the shape of crosses; extremely high。



That's how it appeared to him then; for he had



never seen a ship before。  This was the ship that



was going to swim all the way to America。  Voices



shouted; everything swayed; there was a ladder



dipping up and down。  He went up on his hands



and knees in mortal fear of falling into the water



below; which made a great splashing。  He got sep…



arated from his companion; and when he descended



into the bottom of that ship his heart seemed to melt



suddenly within him。







〃It was then also; as he told me; that he lost con…



tact for good and all with one of those three men



who the summer before had been going about



through all the little towns in the foothills of his



country。  They would arrive on market days driv…



ing in a peasant's cart; and would set up an office



in an inn or some other Jew's house。  There were





three of them; of whom one with a long beard



looked venerable; and they had red cloth collars



round their necks and gold lace on their sleeves



like Government officials。  They sat proudly behind



a long table; and in the next room; so that the com…



mon people shouldn't hear; they kept a cunning



telegraph machine; through which they could talk



to the Emperor of America。  The fathers hung



about the door; but the young men of the mountains



would crowd up to the table asking many questions;



for there was work to be got a

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