英文版讀書筆記

　　p102

　　the ground was hard the air was still my road was lonely: i walked fast till i got warm and then i walked slowly to enjoy and to analyze the species of pleasure brooding for me in the hour and situation. it was three o’clock; the church bell tolled as i passed under the belfry: the charm of the hour lay in its approaching dimness in the low-gliding and pale-beaming sun. i was a mile from thornfield in a lane noted for wild roses in summer for nuts and blackberries in autumn and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose. if a breath of air stirred it made no sound here; for there was not a holly not an evergreen to rustle and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white worn stones which cause-wayed the middle of the path. far and wide on each side there were only fields where no cattle now browsed; and the little brown birds which stirred occasionally in the hedge looked like single russet leaves that had forgotten to drop.

　　this lane inclined uphill all the way to hay; having reached the middle i sat down on a stile which led thence into a field. gathering my mantle about me and sheltering my hands in my muff i did not feel the cold though it froze keenly; as was attested by a sheet of ice covering the causeway where a little brooklet now congealed had overflowed after a rapid thaw some days since. from my set i could look down on thornfield: the gray and battlemented hall was the principal object in the vale below me; its woods and dark rookery arose against the west. i lingered till the sun went down amongst the trees and sank crimson and clear behind them. i then turned eastward.

　　on the hilltop above me sat the rising moon; pale yet as cloud but brightening momently; she looked over hay which half lost in trees sent up a blue smoke from its few chimneys; it was yet a mile distant but in the absolute hush i could hear plainly its thin murmurs of life. my ear too felt the flow of currents; in what dales and depths i could not tell: but here were many hills beyond hay and doubtless many becks threading their passes. that evening clam betrayed alike the tinkle of the nearest streams the sough of the most remote.

　　the din was on the causeway: a horse was coming; the windings of the lane yet hid it but it approached. i was just leaving the stile; yet as the path was narrow i sat still to let it go by. in those days i was young and all sorts of fancies bright and dark tenanted my mind: the memories of nursery stories were there amongst other rubbish; and when they recurred maturing youth added to them a vigor and vividness beyond what childhood could give. as this horse approached and as i watched for it to appear through the dusk i remembered certain of bessie’s tale wherein figured a north-of england spirit called a ‘gytrash’; which in the form of horse mule or large dog haunted solitary ways and sometimes came upon belated travelers as this horse was now coming upon me.

　　p105

　　something of daylight still lingers and the moon was waxing bright; i could see him plainly. his figure was enveloped in a riding cloak fur collared and steel clasped; its derails were not apparent but i traced the general points of middle height and considerable breadth of chest. he had a dark face with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful and thwarted just now; he was past youth but had not reached middle age; perhaps he might be thirty-five. i felt no fear of him and but little shyness. had he been a handsome heroic-looking young gentleman i should not have dared to stand thus questioning him against his will and offering my services unasked. i had hardly ever seen a handsome youth; never in my life spoken to one. i had a theoretical reverence and homage for beauty elegance gallantry fascination; but had i met those qualities incarnate in masculine shape i should have known instinctively that they neither had nor could have sympathy with anything in me and should have shunned them as one would fire lightning or anything else that is bright but antipathetic.