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lavengro-第146部分
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iron perseverance; without which all the advantages of time and
circumstance are of very little avail in any undertaking。 I was
determined to make a horse…shoe; and a good one; in spite of every
obstacle … ay; in spite of dukkerin。 At the end of four days;
during which I had fashioned and refashioned the thing at least
fifty times; I had made a petul such as no master of the craft need
have been ashamed of; with the second shoe I had less difficulty;
and; by the time I had made the fourth; I would have scorned to
take off my hat to the best smith in Cheshire。
But I had not yet shod my little gry: this I proceeded now to do。
After having first well pared the hoofs with my churi; I applied
each petul hot; glowing hot; to the pindro。 Oh; how the hoofs
hissed! and; oh; the pleasant pungent odour which diffused itself
through the dingle! … an odour good for an ailing spirit。
I shod the little horse bravely … merely pricked him once;
slightly; with a cafi; for doing which; I remember; he kicked me
down; I was not disconcerted; however; but; getting up; promised to
be more cautious in future; and having finished the operation; I
filed the hoof well with the rin baro; then dismissed him to graze
amongst the trees; and; putting my smaller tools into the muchtar;
I sat down on my stone; and; supporting my arm upon my knee; leaned
my head upon my hand。 Heaviness had come over me。
CHAPTER LXXXIV
Several causes … Frogs and eftes … Gloom and twilight … What should
I do? … 'Our Father' … Fellow…men … What a mercy! … Almost calm …
Fresh store … History of Saul … Pitch dark。
HEAVINESS had suddenly come over me; heaviness of heart; and of
body also。 I had accomplished the task which I had imposed upon
myself; and now that nothing more remained to do; my energies
suddenly deserted me; and I felt without strength; and without
hope。 Several causes; perhaps; co…operated to bring about the
state in which I then felt myself。 It is not improbable that my
energies had been overstrained during the work the progress of
which I have attempted to describe; and every one is aware that the
results of overstrained energies are feebleness and lassitude …
want of nourishment might likewise have something to do with it。
During my sojourn in the dingle; my food had been of the simplest
and most unsatisfying description; by no means calculated to
support the exertion which the labour I had been engaged upon
required; it had consisted of coarse oaten cakes and hard cheese;
and for beverage I had been indebted to a neighbouring pit; in
which; in the heat of the day; I frequently saw; not golden or
silver fish; but frogs and eftes swimming about。 I am; however;
inclined to believe that Mrs。 Herne's cake had quite as much to do
with the matter as insufficient nourishment。 I had never entirely
recovered from the effects of its poison; but had occasionally;
especially at night; been visited by a grinding pain in the
stomach; and my whole body had been suffused with cold sweat; and
indeed these memorials of the drow have never entirely disappeared
… even at the present time they display themselves in my system;
especially after much fatigue of body and excitement of mind。 So
there I sat in the dingle upon my stone; nerveless and hopeless; by
whatever cause or causes that state had been produced … there I sat
with my head leaning upon my hand; and so I continued a long; long
time。 At last I lifted my head from my hand; and began to cast
anxious; unquiet looks about the dingle … the entire hollow was now
enveloped in deep shade … I cast my eyes up; there was a golden
gleam on the tops of the trees which grew towards the upper parts
of the dingle; but lower down all was gloom and twilight … yet;
when I first sat down on my stone; the sun was right above the
dingle; illuminating all its depths by the rays which it cast
perpendicularly down … so I must have sat a long; long time upon my
stone。 And now; once more; I rested my head upon my hand; but
almost instantly lifted it again in a kind of fear; and began
looking at the objects before me … the forge; the tools; the
branches of the trees; endeavouring to follow their rows; till they
were lost in the darkness of the dingle; and now I found my right
hand grasping convulsively the three fore…fingers of the left;
first collectively; and then successively; wringing them till the
joints cracked; then I became quiet; but not for long。
Suddenly I started up; and could scarcely repress the shriek which
was rising to my lips。 Was it possible? Yes; all too certain; the
evil one was upon me; the inscrutable horror which I had felt in my
boyhood had once more taken possession of me。 I had thought that
it had forsaken me … that it would never visit me again; that I had
outgrown it; that I might almost bid defiance to it; and I had even
begun to think of it without horror; as we are in the habit of
doing of horrors of which we conceive we run no danger; and lo!
when least thought of; it had seized me again。 Every moment I felt
it gathering force; and making me more wholly its own。 What should
I do? … resist; of course; and I did resist。 I grasped; I tore;
and strove to fling it from me; but of what avail were my efforts?
I could only have got rid of it by getting rid of myself: it was a
part of myself; or rather it was all myself。 I rushed amongst the
trees; and struck at them with my bare fists; and dashed my head
against them; but I felt no pain。 How could I feel pain with that
horror upon me? And then I flung myself on the ground; gnawed the
earth; and swallowed it; and then I looked round; it was almost
total darkness in the dingle; and the darkness added to my horror。
I could no longer stay there; up I rose from the ground; and
attempted to escape。 At the bottom of the winding path which led
up the acclivity I fell over something which was lying on the
ground; the something moved; and gave a kind of whine。 It was my
little horse; which had made that place its lair; my little horse;
my only companion and friend in that now awful solitude。 I reached
the mouth of the dingle; the sun was just sinking in the far west
behind me; the fields were flooded with his last gleams。 How
beautiful everything looked in the last gleams of the sun! I felt
relieved for a moment; I was no longer in the horrid dingle。 In
another minute the sun was gone; and a big cloud occupied the place
where he had been: in a little time it was almost as dark as it
had previously been in the open part of the dingle。 My horror
increased; what was I to do? … it was of no use fighting against
the horror … that I saw; the more I fought against it; the stronger
it became。 What should I do: say my prayers? Ah! why not? So I
knelt down under the hedge; and said; 'Our Father'; but that was of
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