友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!
the professor at the breakfast table-第76部分
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完,想下次继续接着阅读,可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能!
this their child。 Oh; turn away from him the penalties of his own
transgressions! Thou hast laid upon him; from infancy; the cross
which thy stronger children are called upon to take up; and now that
he is fainting under it; be Thou his stay; and do Thou succor him
that is tempted! Let his manifold infirmities come between him and
Thy judgment; in wrath remember mercy! If his eyes are not opened
to all Thy truth; let Thy compassion lighten the darkness that rests
upon him; even as it came through the word of thy Son to blind
Bartimeus; who sat by the wayside; begging!
Many more petitions he uttered; but all in the same subdued tone of
tenderness。 In the presence of helpless suffering; and in the fast…
darkening shadow of the Destroyer; he forgot all but his Christian
humanity; and cared more about consoling his fellow…man than making
a proselyte of him。
This was the last prayer to which the Little Gentleman ever
listened。 Some change was rapidly coming over him during this last
hour of which I have been speaking。 The excitement of pleading his
cause before his self…elected spiritual adviser;the emotion which
overcame him; when the young girl obeyed the sudden impulse of her
feelings and pressed her lips to his cheek;the thoughts that
mastered him while the divinity…student poured out his soul for him
in prayer; might well hurry on the inevitable moment。 When the
divinity…student had uttered his last petition; commending him to
the Father through his Son's intercession; he turned to look upon
him before leaving his chamber。 His face was changed。 There is a
language of the human countenance which we all understand without an
interpreter; though the lineaments belong to the rudest savage that
ever stammered in an unknown barbaric dialect。 By the stillness of
the sharpened features; by the blankness of the tearless eyes; by
the fixedness of the smileless mouth; by the deadening tints; by the
contracted brow; by the dilating nostril; we know that the soul is
soon to leave its mortal tenement; and is already closing up its
windows and putting out its fires。 Such was the aspect of the face
upon which the divinity…student looked; after the brief silence
which followed his prayer。 The change had been rapid; though not
that abrupt one which is liable to happen at any moment in these
cases。 The sick man looked towards him。 Farewell;he said;I
thank you。 Leave me alone with her。
When the divinity…student had gone; and the Little Gentleman found
himself alone with Iris; he lifted his hand to his neck; and took
from it; suspended by a slender chain; a quaint; antique…looking
key;the same key I had once seen him holding。 He gave this to
her; and pointed to a carved cabinet opposite his bed; one of those
that had so attracted my curious eyes and set me wondering as to
what it might contain。
Open it;he said;and light the lamp。 The young girl walked to
the cabinet and unlocked the door。 A deep recess appeared; lined
with black velvet; against which stood in white relief an ivory
crucifix。 A silver lamp hung over it。 She lighted the lamp and
came back to the bedside。 The dying man fixed his eyes upon the
figure of the dying Saviour。 Give me your hand; he said; and Iris
placed her right hand in his left。 So they remained; until
presently his eyes lost their meaning; though they still remained
vacantly fixed upon the white image。 Yet he held the young girl's
hand firmly; as if it were leading him through some deep…shadowed
valley and it was all he could cling to。 But presently an
involuntary muscular contraction stole over him; and his terrible
dying grasp held the poor girl as if she were wedged in an engine of
torture。 She pressed her lips together and sat still。 The
inexorable hand held her tighter and tighter; until she felt as if
her own slender fingers would be crushed in its gripe。 It was one
of the tortures of the Inquisition she was suffering; and she could
not stir from her place。 Then; in her great anguish; she; too; cast
her eyes upon that dying figure; and; looking upon its pierced hands
and feet and side and lacerated forehead; she felt that she also
must suffer uncomplaining。 In the moment of her sharpest pain she
did not forget the duties of her under office; but dried the dying
man's moist forehead with her handkerchief; even while the dews of
agony were glistening on her own。 How long this lasted she never
could tell。 Time and thirst are two things you and I talk about;
but the victims whom holy men and righteous judges used to stretch
on their engines knew better what they meant than you or I! What
is that great bucket of water for? said the Marchioness de
Brinvilliers; before she was placed on the rack。 For you to
drink;said the torturer to the little woman。 She could not think
that it would take such a flood to quench the fire in her and so
keep her alive for her confession。 The torturer knew better than
she。
After a time not to be counted in minutes; as the clock measures;
without any warning;there came a swift change of his features; his
face turned white; as the waters whiten when a sudden breath passes
over their still surface; the muscles instantly relaxed; and Iris;
released at once from her care for the sufferer and from his
unconscious grasp; fell senseless; with a feeble cry;the only
utterance of her long agony。
Perhaps you sometimes wander in through the iron gates of the Copp's
Hill burial…ground。 You love to stroll round among the graves that
crowd each other in the thickly peopled soil of that breezy summit。
You love to lean on the freestone slab which lies over the bones of
the Mathers;to read the epitaph of stout William Clark; 〃Despiser
of Sorry Persons and little Actions;〃to stand by the stone grave
of sturdy Daniel Malcolm and look upon the splintered slab that
tells the old rebel's story;to kneel by the triple stone that says
how the three Worthylakes; father; mother; and young daughter; died
on the same day and lie buried there; a mystery; the subject of a
moving ballad; by the late BENJAMIN FRANKLIN; as may be seen in his
autobiography; which will explain the secret of the triple
gravestone; though the old philosopher has made a mistake; unless
the stone is wrong。
Not very far from that you will find a fair mound; of dimensions fit
to hold a well…grown man。 I will not tell you the inscription upon
the stone which stands at its head; for I do not wish you to be sure
of the resting…place of one who could not bear to think that he
should be known as a cripple among the dead; after being pointed at
so long among the living。 There is one sign; it is true; by which;
if you have been a sagacious reader of these papers; you will at
once know it; but I fear you read carelessly; and must study them
more diligently before you will detect the hint to which I allude。
The Little Gentleman lies where he longed to lie; among the old
names an
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!