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！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
er；thatheexpectedsomefatalencountereveryinstant。
tosaythetruth；hissituationwasnotencouraging。theplacewasnotconsideredsafe；andforsometimepasttherehadbeenrumorsofthesuddendisappearanceofseveralhorse…dealers；thoughtherewasnotraceofanycrimehavingbeenmitted。
ouryoungtraveller；withhiseyesstaringforward；andhisearslistening；followedafootpathwhichhesupposedmighttakehimtosomehouseorroad；butwoodsalwayssucceededtowoods。atlastheperceivedalightatadistance；andinaquarterofanhourhereachedthehighroad。
asinglehouse；thelightfromwhichhadattractedhim；appearedatalittledistance。hewasgoingtowardtheentrancegateofthecourtyard；whenthetrotofahorsemadehimturnhishead。amanonhorsebackhadjustappearedattheturningoftheroad；andinaninstantwasclosetohim。
thefirstwordsheaddressedtotheyoungmanshowedhimtobethefarmerhimself。herelatedhowhehadlosthimself；andlearnedfromthecountrymanthathewasontheroadtopithiviers。montargiswasthreeleaguesbehindhim。
thefoghadinsensiblychangedintoadrizzlingrain；whichwasbeginningtowettheyoungclerkthrough；heseemedafraidofthedistancehehadstilltogo；andthehorseman；whosawhishesitation；invitedhimtoeintothefarmhouse。
ithadsomethingofthelookofafortress。surroundedbyaprettyhighwall；itcouldnotbeseenexceptthroughthebarsofthegreatgate；whichwascarefullyclosed。thefarmer；whohadgotoffhishorse；didnotgonearit；but；turningtotheright；reachedanotherentranceclosedinthesameway；butofwhichhehadthekey。
hardlyhadhepassedthethresholdwhenaterriblebarkingresoundedfromeachendoftheyard。thefarmertoldhisguesttofearnothing；andshowedhimthedogschaineduptotheirkennels；bothwereofanextraordinarysize；andsosavagethatthesightoftheirmasterhimselfcouldnotquietthem。
aboy；attractedbytheirbarking；cameoutofthehouseandtookthefarmershorse。thelatterbeganquestioninghimaboutsomeordershehadgivenbeforeheleftthehouse；andwenttowardthestabletoseethattheyhadbeenexecuted。
thusleftalone；ourclerklookedabouthim。
alanternwhichtheboyhadplacedonthegroundcastadimlightoverthecourtyard。allaroundseemedemptyanddeserted。notatracewasvisibleofthedisorderoftenseeninacountryfarmyard；andwhichshowsatemporarycessationoftheworkwhichissoontoberesumedagain。
neitheracartforgottenwherethehorseshadbeenunharnessed；norsheavesofcornheapedupreadyforthreshing；noraplowoverturnedinacornerandhalfhiddenunderthefreshly…cutclover。theyardwasswept；thebarnsshutupandpadlocked。notasinglevinecreepingupthewalls；everywherestone；wood；andiron！
hetookupthelanternandwentuptothecornerofthehouse。behindwasasecondyard；whereheheardthebarkingofathirddog；andacoveredwallwasbuiltinthemiddleofit。
ourtravellerlookedinvainforthelittlefarmgarden；wherepumpkinsofdifferentsortscreepalongtheground；orwherethebeesfromthehiveshumunderthehedgesofhoneysuckleandelder。verdureandflowerswerenowheretobeseen。hedidnotevenperceivethesightofapoultry…yardorpigeon…house。thehabitationofhishostwaseverywherewantinginthatwhichmakesthegraceandthelifeofthecountry。
theyoungmanthoughtthathishostmustbeofaverycarelessoraverycalculatingdisposition；toconcedesolittletodomesticenjoymentsandthepleasuresoftheeye；andjudging；inspiteofhimself；bywhathesaw；hecouldnothelpfeelingadistrustofhischaracter。
inthemeantimethefarmerreturnedfromthestables；andmadehimenterthehouse。
theinsideofthefarmhousecorrespondedtoitsoutside。thewhitewashedwallshadnootherornamentthanarowofgunsofallsizes；themassivefurniturehardlyredeemeditsclumsyappearancebyitsgreatsolidity。
thecleanlinesswasdoubtful；andtheabsenceofallminorconveniencesprovedthatawomanscarewaswantinginthehouseholdconcerns。theyoungclerklearnedthatthefarmer；infact；livedherewithnoonebuthistwosons。
ofthis；indeed；thesignswereplainenough。atablewiththeclothlaid；thatnoonehadtakenthetroubletoclearaway；wasleftnearthewindow。theplatesanddisheswerescattereduponitwithoutanyorder；andloadedwithpotato…paringsandhalf…pickedbones。severalemptybottlesemittedanodorofbrandy；mixedwiththepungentsmelloftobacco…smoke。
afterseatinghisguest；thefarmerlightedhispipe；andhistwosonsresumedtheirworkbythefireside。nowandthenthesilencewasjustbrokenbyashortremark；answeredbyawordoranexclamation；andthenallbecameasmuteasbefore。
〃frommychildhood；〃saidtheoldcashier；〃ihadbeenverysensibletotheimpressionofoutwardobjects；laterinlife；reflectionhadtaughtmetostudythecausesoftheseimpressionsratherthantodrivethemaway。isetmyself；then；toexamineeverythingaroundmewithgreatattention。
〃belowtheguns；ihadremarkedonentering；somewolftrapsweresuspended；andtooneofthemstillhungthemangledremainsofawolfspaw；whichtheyhadnotyettakenofffromtheironteeth。theblackenedchimneypiecewasornamentedbyanowlandaravennailedonthewall；theirwingsextended；andtheirthroatswithahugenailthrougheach；afoxsskin；freshlyflayed；wasspreadbeforethewindow；andalarderhook；fixedintotheprincipalbeam；heldaheadlessgoose；whosebodyswayedaboutoverourheads。
〃myeyeswereoffendedbyallthesedetails；anditurnedthemagainuponmyhosts。thefather；whosatoppositetome；onlyinterruptedhissmokingtopourouthisdrink；oraddresssomereprimandtohissons。
theeldestofthesewasscrapingadeepbucket；andthebloodyscrapings；whichhethrewintothefireeveryinstant；filledtheroomwithadisagreeablefetidsmell；thesecondsonwassharpeningsomebutchersknives。ilearnedfromaworddroppedfromthefatherthattheywerepreparingtokillapigthenextday。
〃theseoccupationsandthewholeaspectofthingsinsidethehousetoldofsuchhabitualcoarsenessintheirwayoflivingasseemedtoexplain；whileitformedthefittingcounterpartof；theforbiddinggloominessoftheoutside。myastonishmentbydegreeschangedintodisgust；andmydisgustintouneasiness。icannotdetailthewholechainofideaswhichsucceededoneanotherinmyimagination；but；yieldingtoanimpulseicouldnotovere；igotup；declaringiwouldgoonmyroadagain。
〃thefarmermadesomeefforttokeepme；hespokeoftherain；ofthedarkness；andofthelengthoftheway。irepliedtoallbytheabsolutenecessitytherewasformybeingatmontargisthatverynight；andthankinghimforhisbriefhospitality；isetoffagaininahastewhichmightwellhaveconfirmedthetruthofmywordstohim。
〃however；thefreshnessofthenightandtheexerciseofwalkingdidnotfailtochangethedirectionsofmythoughts。whenawayfromtheobjectswhichhadawakenedsuchlivelydisgustinme；ifeltitgraduallydiminishing。ibegantosmileatthesusceptibilityofmyfeelings；andthen；inprop