Thewholemindofthemanwas,asshetoldherself,withinhergrasp。Hemighthavetakenthetwentypounds;hemighthavetakenitandspentit,thoughitwasnothisown;butyethewasnothief。Norwasheamadman。
NomanmoresaneinpreachingthegospelofhisLord,inmakingintelligibletotheignorantthepromisesofhisSaviour,evergotintoaparishpulpit,ortaughtinaparishschool。Theintellectofthemanwasasclearasrunningwaterinallthingsnotappertainingtohisdailylife,anditsdifficulties。Hecouldbelogicalwithavengeance——sologicalastocauseinfinitetroubletohiswife,who,withallhergoodsense,wasnotlogical。AndhehadGreekathisfingers’ends——ashisdaughterverywellknew。AndeventothisdayhewouldsometimesrecitetothemEnglishpoetry,linesafterlines,stanzasuponstanzas,inasweetlowmelancholyvoice,onlongwintereveningswhenoccasionallytheburdenofhistroubleswouldbelightertohimthanwasusual。BooksinLatinandinFrenchhereadwithasmucheaseasinEnglish,andtookdelightinsuchascametohim,whenhewouldcondescendtoacceptsuchloansfromthedeanery。Andtherewasattimesalightnessofheartabouttheman。InthecourseofthelastwinterhehadtranslatedintoGreekirregularversetheverynobleballadofLordBateman,maintainingtherhythmandtherhyme,andhadrepeateditwithuncouthgleetillhisdaughterknewitallbyheart。
Andwhentherehadcometohimafive—poundnotefromsomeadmiringmagazineeditorasthepriceofthesame——stillthroughthedean’shands——hehadbrighteneduphisheartandhadthoughtforanhourortwothatevenyettheworldwouldsmileuponhim。Hiswifeknewwellthathewasnotmad;butyetsheknewthatthereweredarkmomentswithhim,inwhichhismindwassomuchastraythathecouldnotjustlybecalledtoaccountastowhathemightrememberandwhathemightforget。Howwoulditbepossibletoexplainallthistoajudgeandjury,sothattheymightneithersaythathewasdishonest,noryetthathewasmad?
’Perhapshepickeditup,andhadforgotten,’herdaughtersaidtoher。
Perhapsitwasso,butshemightnotasyetadmitasmucheventoherchild。
......购买会员看全站小说,或者下载APP免费观看所有作品 点击立即下载,搜索"The Last Chronicle of Barset",免费读到尾