第 59 节
作者:浮游云中      更新:2021-02-24 23:06      字数:9322
  around him with the leonine stare of the conqueror; and a hush came over
  the hall as he arose。  His speech was taken down verbatim; to be
  submitted to the sharpest of legal eyes; when was discovered the
  possession of a powerrare among agitatorsto pour forth in torrents
  apparently unpremeditated appeals; to skirt the border of sedition and
  never transgress it; to weigh his phrases before he gave them birth; and
  to remember them。  If he said an incendiary thing one moment he qualified
  it the next; he justified violence only to deprecate it; and months
  later; when on trial for his life and certain remarks were quoted against
  him; he confounded his prosecutors by demanding the contexts。  Skilfully;
  always within the limits of their intelligence; he outlined to his
  hearers his philosophy and proclaimed it as that of the world's
  oppressed。  Their cause was histhe cause of human progress; he
  universalized; it。  The world belonged to the 〃producer;〃 if only he had
  the courage to take possession of his own。。。。
  Suddenly the inspirer was transformed into the man of affairs who calmly
  proposed the organization of a strike committee; three members of which
  were to be chosen by each nationality。  And the resolution; translated
  into many tongues; was adopted amidst an uproar of enthusiasm。  Until
  that moment the revolt had been personal; local; founded on a particular
  grievance which had to do with wages and the material struggle for
  existence。  Now all was changed; now they were convinced that the
  deprivation and suffering to which they had pledged themselves were not
  for selfish ends alone; but also vicarious; dedicated to the liberation
  of all the downtrodden of the earth。  Antonelli became a saviour; they
  reached out to touch him as he passed; they trooped into the snowy
  street; young men and old; and girls; and women holding children in their
  arms; their faces alight with something never known or felt before。
  Such was Antonelli to the strikers。  But to those staid residents of
  Hampton who had thought themselves still to be living in the old New
  England tradition; he was the genius of an evil dream。  Hard on his heels
  came a nightmare troop; whose coming brought to the remembrance of the
  imaginative the old nursery rhyme:
  〃Hark!  Hark!  The dogs do bark; The beggars are come to town。〃
  It has; indeed; a knell…like ring。  Do philosophies tend also to cast
  those who adopt them into a mould?  These were of the self…same breed;
  indubitably the followers of Antonelli。  The men wore their hair long;
  affected; like their leader; soft felt hats and loose black ties that
  fell over the lapels of their coats。  Loose morals and loose ties!  The
  projection of these against a Puritan background ties symbolical of
  everything the Anglo…Saxon shudders at and abhors; of anarchy and mob
  rule; of bohemia and vagabondia; of sedition and murder; of Latin
  revolutions and reigns of terror; of sex irregularitynot of the
  clandestine sort to be found in decent communitiesbut of free love that
  flaunts itself in the face of an outraged public。  For there were women
  in the band。  All this; and more; the invaders suggestedatheism;
  unfamiliarity with soap and water; and; more vaguely; an exotic poetry
  and art that to the virile of American descent is saturated with
  something indefinable yet abhorrent。  Such things are felt。  Few of the
  older citizens of Hampton were able to explain why something rose in
  their gorges; why they experienced a new and clammy quality of fear and
  repulsion when; on the day following Antonelli's advent; these strangers
  arrived from nowhere to install themselveswith no baggage to speak of
  in Hampton's more modest but hitherto respectable hostelries。  And no
  sooner had the city been rudely awakened to the perilous presence; in
  overwhelming numbers; of ignorant and inflammable foreigners than these
  turned up and presumed to lead the revolt; to make capital out of it; to
  interpret it in terms of an exotic and degenerate creed。  Hampton would
  take care of itselfor else the sovereign state within whose borders it
  was would take care of it。  And his Honour the Mayor; who had proclamed
  his faith in the reasonableness of the strikers; who had scorned the
  suggestions of indignant inhabitants that the Governor be asked for
  soldiers; twenty…four hours too late arranged for the assembly of three
  companies of local militia in the armory; and swore in a hundred extra
  police。
  The hideous stillness of Fillmore Street was driving Janet mad。  What she
  burned to do was to go to Boston and take a train for somewhere in the
  West; to lose herself; never to see Hampton again。  Butthere was her
  mother。  She could not leave Hannah in these empty rooms; alone; and
  Edward was to remain at the mill; to eat and sleep there; until the
  danger of the strike had passed。  A messenger had come to fetch his
  clothes。  After leaving Ditmar in the office of the mill; Janet crept up
  the dark stairs to the flat and halted in the hallway。  Through the open
  doorway of the dining…room she saw Hannah seated on the horsehair sofa
  for the first time within memory idle at this hour of the day。  Nothing
  else could have brought home to her like this the sheer tragedy of their
  plight。  Until then Janet had been sustained by anger and excitement; by
  physical action。  She thought Hannah was staring at her; after a moment
  it seemed that the widened pupils were fixed in fascination on something
  beyond; on the Thing that had come to dwell here with them forever。
  Janet entered the room。  She sat down on the sofa and took her mother's
  hand in hers。  And Hannah submitted passively。  Janet could not speak。  A
  minute might have passed; and the silence; which neither had broken;
  acquired an intensity that to Janet became unbearable。  Never had the
  room been so still!  Her glance; raised instinctively to the face of the
  picture…clock; saw the hands pointing to ten。  Every Monday morning; as
  far back as she could recall; her father had wound it before going to
  workand to…day he had forgotten。  Getting up; she opened the glass
  door; and stood trying to estimate the hour: it must be; she thought;
  about six。  She set the hands; took the key from the nail above the
  shelf; wound up the weight; and started the pendulum。  And the sound of
  familiar ticking was a relief; releasing at last her inhibited powers of
  speech。
  〃Mother;〃 she said; 〃I'll get some supper for you。〃
  On Hannah; these simple words had a seemingly magical effect。  Habit
  reasserted itself。  She started; and rose almost briskly。
  〃No you won't;〃 she said; 〃I'll get it。  I'd ought to have thought of it
  before。  You must be tired and hungry。〃
  Her voice was odd and thin。  Janet hesitated a moment; and ceded。
  〃Well; I'll set the dishes on the table; anyway。〃
  Janet had sought refuge; wistfully; in the commonplace。  And when the
  meal was ready she strove to eat; though food had become repulsive。
  〃You must take something; mother;〃 she said。
  〃I don't feel as if I ever wanted to eat anything again;〃 she replied。
  〃I know;〃 said Janet; 〃but you've got to。〃  And she put some of the cold
  meat; left over from Sunday's dinner; on Hannah's plate。  Hannah took up
  a fork; and laid it down again。  Suddenly she said:
  〃You saw Lise?〃
  〃Yes;〃 said Janet。
  〃Where is she?〃
  〃In a housein Boston。〃
  〃One ofthose houses?〃
  〃II don't know;〃 said Janet。  〃I think so。〃
  〃You went there?〃
  〃Mr。 Tiernan went with me。〃
  〃She wouldn't come home?〃
  〃Notnot just now; mother。〃
  〃You left her there; in that place?  You didn't make her come home?〃
  The sudden vehemence of this question; the shrill note of reproach in
  Hannah's voice that revealed; even more than the terrible inertia from
  which she had emerged; the extent of her suffering; for the instant left
  Janet utterly dismayed。  〃Oh mother!〃 she exclaimed。  〃I triedII
  couldn't。〃
  Hannah pushed back her chair。
  〃I'll go to her; I'll make her come。  She's disgraced us; but I'll make
  her。  Where is she?  Where is the house?〃
  Janet; terrified; seized her mother's arm。  Then she said:
  〃Lise isn't there any moreshe's gone away。〃
  〃Away  and you let her go away?  You let your sister go away and be aa
  woman of the town?  You never loved heryou never had any pity for her。〃
  Tears sprang into Janet's eyestears of pity mingled with anger。  The
  situation had grown intolerable!  Yet how could she tell Hannah where
  Lise was!
  〃You haven't any right to say that; mother!〃 she cried。  〃I did my best。
  She wouldn't come。  II can't tell you where she's gone; but she
  promised to write; to send me her address。〃
  〃Lise〃 Hannah's cry seemed like the uncomprehending whimper of a stricken
  child; and then a hidden cadence made itself felt; a cadence revealing to
  Janet with an eloquence never before achieved the mystery of mother love;
  and by some magic of tone was evoked a new image of Liseof Lise as she
  must be to Hannah。  No waywardness; no degradation or disgrace could
  efface it。  The infant whom Hannah had clutched to her breast; the woman;
  her sister; whom Janet had seen that day were oneimmutably one。  This;
  then; was what it meant to be a mother!  All the years of deadening