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the story of an african farm-第26部分
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shirt with the little tucks; and shaving himself。 He had on his very best
trousers; and had heavily oiled the little fringe at the back of his head;
which; however; refused to become darker。 But what distressed him most was
his noseit was very red。 He rubbed his finger and thumb on the wall; and
put a little whitewash on it; but; finding it rather made matters worse; he
rubbed it off again。 Then he looked carefully into his own eyes。 They
certainly were a little pulled down at the outer corners; which gave them
the appearance of looking crosswise; but then they were a nice blue。 So he
put on his best coat; took up his stick; and went out to supper; feeling on
the whole well satisfied。
〃Aunt;〃 said Trana to Tant Sannie when that night they lay together in the
great wooden bed; 〃why does the Englishman sigh so when he looks at me?〃
〃Ha!〃 said Tant Sannie; who was half asleep; but suddenly started; wide
awake。 〃It's because he thinks you look like me。 I tell you; Trana;〃 said
Tant Sannie; 〃the man is mad with love of me。 I told him the other night I
couldn't marry till Em was sixteen; or I'd lose all the sheep her father
left me。 And he talked about Jacob working seven years and seven years
again for his wife。 And of course he meant me;〃 said Tant Sannie
pompously。 〃But he won't get me so easily as he thinks; he'll have to ask
more than once。〃
〃Oh!〃 said Trana; who was a lumpish girl and not much given to talking; but
presently she added; 〃Aunt; why does the Englishman always knock against a
person when he passes them?〃
〃That's because you are always in the way;〃 said Tant Sannie。
〃But; aunt; said Trana; presently; 〃I think he is very ugly。〃
〃Phugh!〃 said Tant Sannie。 It's only because we're not accustomed to such
noses in this country。 In his country he says all the people have such
noses; and the redder your nose is the higher you are。 He's of the family
of the Queen Victoria; you know;〃 said Tant Sannie; wakening up with her
subject; 〃and he doesn't think anything of governors and church elders and
such people; they are nothing to him。 When his aunt with the dropsy dies
he'll have money enough to buy all the farms in this district。〃
〃Oh!〃 said Trana。 That certainly made a difference。
〃Yes;〃 said Tant Sannie; 〃and he's only forty…one; though you'd take him to
be sixty。 And he told me last night the real reason of his baldness。〃
Tant Sannie then proceeded to relate how; at eighteen years of age;
Bonaparte had courted a fair young lady。 How a deadly rival; jealous of
his verdant locks; his golden flowing hair; had; with a damnable and
insinuating deception; made him a present of a pot of pomatum。 How;
applying it in the evening; on rising in the morning he found his pillow
strewn with the golden locks; and; looking into the glass; beheld the
shining and smooth expanse which henceforth he must bear。 The few
remaining hairs were turned to a silvery whiteness; and the young lady
married his rival。
〃And;〃 said Tant Sannie solemnly; 〃if it had not been for the grace of God;
and reading of the psalms; he says he would have killed himself。 He says
he could kill himself quite easily if he wants to marry a woman and she
won't。〃
〃Alle wereld!〃 said Trana: and then they went to sleep。
Every one was lost in sleep soon; but from the window of the cabin the
light streamed forth。 It came from a dung fire; over which Waldo sat
brooding。 Hour after hour he sat there; now and again throwing a fresh
lump of fuel on to the fire; which burnt up bravely; and then sank into a
great bed of red coals; which reflected themselves in the boy's eyes as he
sat there brooding; brooding; brooding。 At last; when the fire was blazing
at its brightest; he rose suddenly and walked slowly to a beam from which
an ox riem hung。 Loosening it; he ran a noose in one end and then doubled
it round his arm。
〃Mine; mine! I have a right;〃 he muttered; and then something louder; 〃if
I fall and am killed; so much the better!〃
He opened the door and went out into the starlight。
He walked with his eyes bent upon the ground; but overhead it was one of
those brilliant southern nights when every space so small that your hand
might cover it shows fifty cold white points; and the Milky…Way is a belt
of sharp frosted silver。 He passed the door where Bonaparte lay dreaming
of Trana and her wealth; and he mounted the ladder steps。 From those he
clambered with some difficulty on to the roof of the house。 It was of old
rotten thatch with a ridge of white plaster; and it crumbled away under his
feet at every step。 He trod as heavily as he could。 So much the better if
he fell。
He knelt down when he got to the far gable; and began to fasten his riem to
the crumbling bricks。 Below was the little window of the loft。 With one
end of the riem tied round the gable; the other end round his waist; how
easy to slide down to it; and to open it; through one of the broken panes;
and to go in; and to fill his arms with books; and to clamber up again!
They had burnt one bookhe would have twenty。 Every man's hand was
against hishis should be against every man's。 No one would help himhe
would help himself。
He lifted the black damp hair from his knit forehead; and looked round to
cool his hot face。 Then he saw what a regal night it was。 He knelt
silently and looked up。 A thousand eyes were looking down at him; bright
and so cold。 There was a laughing irony in them。
〃So hot; so bitter; so angry? Poor little mortal?〃
He was ashamed。 He folded his arms; and sat on the ridge of the roof
looking up at them。
〃So hot; so bitter; so angry?〃
It was as though a cold hand had been laid upon his throbbing forehead; and
slowly they began to fade and grow dim。 Tant Sannie and the burnt book;
Bonaparte and the broken machine; the box in the loft; he himself sitting
therehow small they all became! Even the grave over yonder。 Those stars
that shone on up above so quietly; they had seen a thousand such little
existences fight just so fiercely; flare up just so brightly and go out;
and they; the old; old stars; shone on forever。
〃So hot; so angry; poor little soul?〃 they said。
The riem slipped from his fingers; he sat with his arms folded; looking up。
〃We;〃 said the stars; have seen the earth when it was young。 We have seen
small things creep out upon its surfacesmall things that prayed and loved
and cried very loudly; and then crept under it again。 But we;〃 said the
stars; 〃are as old as the Unknown。〃
He leaned his chin against the palm of his hand and looked up at them。 So
long he sat there that bright stars set and new ones rose; and yet he sat
on。
Then at last he stood up; and began to loosen the riem from the gable。
What did it matter about the books? The lust and the desire for them had
died out。 If they pleased to keep them from him they might。 What matter?
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