第 28 节
作者:绝对601      更新:2022-04-16 12:12      字数:9306
  windows and doors against the winter storms to be expected。 The
  varieties     in   the   fitting…up    of  the   rooms;     where     the    common
  necessaries      provided      by  the   owner;    in   the  common       indifferent
  plight; were contrasted with some few articles of a rare species of
  wood;     excellently     worked     up;   and   with   something       curious    and
  valuable      from    all  the   distant    countries     Captain      Harville    had
  visited; were more than amusing to Anne; connected as it all was
  with     his  profession;     the   fruit   of  its  labours;     the   effect   of  its
  influence      on   his   habits;    the   picture    of   repose    and    domestic
  happiness it presented; made it to her a something more; or less;
  than gratification。
  Captain Harville was no reader; but he had contrived excellent
  accommodations; and fashioned very pretty shelves; for a tolerable
  collection      of   well…bound       volumes;      the    property      of   Captain
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  Benwick。 His lameness prevented him from taking much exercise;
  but a mind of usefulness and ingenuity seemed to furnish him with
  constant      employment         within。    He    drew;     he    varnished;      he
  carpentered; he glued; he made toys for the children; he fashioned
  new   netting…needles   and   pins       with   improvements;   and        if  every
  thing else was done; sat down to his large fishing…net at one corner
  of the room。
  Anne   thought   she   left   great   happiness   behind   her   when   they
  quitted     the   house;    and    Louisa;    by   whom      she   found    herself
  walking; burst forth into raptures of admiration and delight on the
  character of the navy—their friendliness; their brotherliness; their
  openness; their uprightness; protesting that she was convinced of
  sailors having more worth and warmth than any other set of men
  in   England;     that   they   only   knew     how    to  live;  and   they   only
  deserved to be respected and loved。
  They went back to dress and dine; and so well had the scheme
  answered already; that nothing was found amiss; though its being
  “so   entirely   out   of   season;”   and   the   “no   thoroughfare   of   Lyme;”
  and the “no expectation of company;” had brought many apologies
  from the heads of the inn。
  Anne      found    herself    by   this   time   growing     so   much     more
  hardened to being in Captain Wentworth’s company than she had
  at first imagined could ever be; that the sitting down to the same
  table with him now; and the interchange of the common civilities
  attending      on  it—(they    never    got  beyond);     was   become     a  mere
  nothing。
  The   nights   were   too   dark   for   the   ladies   to   meet   again   till   the
  morrow;   but   Captain   Harville   had   promised   them   a   visit   in   the
  evening;   and   he   came;   bringing   his   friend   also;   which   was   more
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  than     had   been    expected;     it  having    been    agreed     that   Captain
  Benwick       had    all  the   appearance       of   being    oppressed      by   the
  presence   of   so   many   strangers。   He   ventured   among   them   again;
  however; though his spirits certainly did not seem fit for the mirth
  of the party in general。
  While Captains Wentworth and Harville led the talk on one side
  of the room; and by recurring to former days; supplied anecdotes
  in abundance to occupy and entertain the others; it fell to Anne’s
  lot   to   be   placed   rather   apart   with   Captain   Benwick;   and   a   very
  good impulse of her nature obliged her to begin an acquaintance
  with     him。   He    was   shy;   and    disposed     to   abstraction;     but   the
  engaging       mildness     of  her   countenance;       and   gentleness     of   her
  manners; soon had their effect; and Anne was well repaid the first
  trouble of exertion。 He was evidently a young man of considerable
  taste    in  reading;    though   principally   in     poetry;   and    besides    the
  persuasion of having given him at least an evening’s indulgence in
  the    discussion      of  subjects;    which     his   usual    companions       had
  probably no concern in; she  had   the  hope  of being  of  real   use  to
  him   in   some  suggestions  as  to  the   duty  and benefit  of  struggling
  against      affliction;   which     had     naturally     grown     out    of   their
  conversation。   For;   though   shy;   he   did   not   seem   reserved;   it   had
  rather     the   appearance       of   feelings    glad   to   burst    their   usual
  restraints; and having talked of poetry; the richness of the present
  age; and gone through a brief comparison of opinion as to the first…
  rate poets; trying to ascertain whether Marmion or The Lady of the
  Lake   were   to   be   preferred;   and   how   ranked   the  Giaour  and  The
  Bride     of  Abydos;     and    moreover;      how     the  Giaour     was    to   be
  pronounced; he showed himself so intimately acquainted with all
  the    tenderest     songs    of  the  one    poet;   and   all  the   impassioned
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  descriptions of hopeless agony of the other; he repeated; with such
  tremulous feeling; the various lines which imaged a broken heart;
  or a mind destroyed by wretchedness; and looked so entirely as if
  he meant to be understood; that she ventured to hope he did not
  always   read   only   poetry;   and   to   say;   that   she   thought   it   was   the
  misfortune   of   poetry   to   be   seldom   safely   enjoyed   by   those   who
  enjoyed   it   completely;   and   that   the   strong   feelings   which   alone
  could estimate it truly were the very feelings which ought to taste
  it but sparingly。
  His    looks   shewing      him    not   pained;    but    pleased    with    this
  allusion to his situation; she was emboldened to go on; and feeling
  in    herself    the   right   of   seniority     of  mind;     she    ventured     to
  recommend a larger allowance of prose in his daily study; and on
  being   requested       to   particularize;   mentioned       such   works     of  our
  best moralists; such collections of the finest letters; such memoirs
  of   characters   of   worth   and   suffering;   as   occurred   to   her   at   the
  moment as calculated to rouse and fortify the mind by the highest
  precepts;      and   the   strongest     examples      of  moral     and    religious
  endurance。
  Captain   Benwick  listened   attentively;   and   seemed   grateful   for
  the   interest   implied;   and   though   with   a   shake   of   the   head;   and
  sighs which declared his little faith in the efficacy of any books on
  grief like his; noted   down   the names   of  those   she   recommended;
  and promised to procure and read them。
  When the evening was over; Anne could not but be amused at
  the idea of her coming to Lyme to preach patience and resignation
  to a young  man   whom   she   had never  seen before;   nor  could   she
  help    fearing;    on  more     serious   reflection;    that;  like  many     other
  great moralists and preachers; she had been eloquent on a point in
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  which her own conduct would ill bear examination。
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  CHAPTER XII
  nne and Henrietta; finding themselves the earliest of the
  Aparty the next morning; agreed to stroll   down   to  the   sea
  before   breakfast。—They  went  to   the   sands;   to   watch   the
  flowing      of  the   tide;   which     a   fine   south…easterly      breeze     was
  bringing in with all the grandeur  which  so  flat  a shore   admitted。
  They praised the morning; gloried in the sea; sympathized in the
  delight of the fresh…feeling breeze—and were silent; till Henrietta
  suddenly began again; with;
  “Oh! yes;—I am quite convinced that; with very few