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PG27 | 194 | In the meantime the surgeon, having hastened into the hall at
Boldwoods, found it in darkness and quite deserted. He went on to the
back of the house, where he discovered in the kitchen an old man, of
whom he made inquiries.
Shes had him took away to her own house, sir, said his informant.
Who has? said the doctor.
... | 964 |
PG27 | 195 | CHAPTER XXV.
THE MARCH FOLLOWINGBATHSHEBA BOLDWOOD
We pass rapidly on into the month of March, to a breezy day without
sunshine, frost, or dew. On Yallbury Hill, about midway between
Weatherbury and Casterbridge, where the turnpike road passes over the
crest, a numerous concourse of people had gathered, the eyes of t... | 1,094 |
PG27 | 196 | A petition was addressed to the Home Secretary, advancing the
circumstances which appeared to justify a request for a reconsideration
of the sentence. It was not numerously signed by the inhabitants of
Casterbridge, as is usual in such cases, for Boldwood had never made
many friends over the counter. The shops thought ... | 1,006 |
PG27 | 197 | CHAPTER XXVI.
BEAUTY IN LONELINESSAFTER ALL
Bathsheba revived with the spring. The utter prostration that had
followed the low fever from which she had suffered diminished
perceptibly when all uncertainty upon every subject had come to an end.
But she remained alone now for the greater part of her time, and stayed
i... | 1,025 |
PG27 | 198 | Then they stood in a state of some embarrassment, Bathsheba trying to
wipe her dreadfully drenched and inflamed face without his noticing
her. At length Oak said, Ive not seen youI mean spoken to yousince
ever so long, have I? But he feared to bring distressing memories
back, and interrupted himself with: Were you goin... | 1,163 |
PG27 | 199 | The next morning brought the culminating stroke; she had been expecting
it long. It was a formal notice by letter from him that he should not
renew his engagement with her for the following Lady-day.
Bathsheba actually sat and cried over this letter most bitterly. She
was aggrieved and wounded that the possession of h... | 1,011 |
PG27 | 200 | Getting me! What does that mean?
Marrying o ye, in plain British. You asked me to tell, so you mustnt
blame me.
Bathsheba did not look quite so alarmed as if a cannon had been
discharged by her ear, which was what Oak had expected. Marrying me! I
didnt know it was that you meant, she said, quietly. Such a thing as
th... | 917 |
PG27 | 201 | CHAPTER XXVII.
A FOGGY NIGHT AND MORNINGCONCLUSION
The most private, secret, plainest wedding that it is possible to
have.
Those had been Bathshebas words to Oak one evening, some time after
the event of the preceding chapter, and he meditated a full hour by the
clock upon how to carry out her wishes to the letter.
... | 1,064 |
PG27 | 202 | Liddy, said Bathsheba, on going to bed that night, I want you to
call me at seven oclock to-morrow, in case I shouldnt wake.
But you always do wake afore then, maam.
Yes, but I have something important to do, which Ill tell you of when
the time comes, and its best to make sure.
Bathsheba, however, awoke voluntarily ... | 1,056 |
PG32 | 0 | Had no one else gone? Yes--a good many--but they never came back. It was
no place for men--of that they seemed sure.
I told the boys about these stories, and they laughed at them. Naturally
I did myself. I knew the stuff that savage dreams are made of.
But when we had reached our farthest point, just the day before w... | 995 |
PG32 | 1 | Come down, he said, pointing to the cataract. Woman Country--up
there.
Then we were interested. We had our rest and lunch right there and
pumped the man for further information. He could tell us only what the
others had--a land of women--no men--babies, but all girls. No place for
men--dangerous. Some had gone to see-... | 1,035 |
PG32 | 2 | Youre right, Terry. Once the story gets out, the river will crawl with
expeditions and the airships rise like a swarm of mosquitoes. I laughed
as I thought of it. Weve made a great mistake not to let Mr. Yellow
Press in on this. Save us! What headlines!
Not much! said Terry grimly. This is our party. Were going to fin... | 1,124 |
PG32 | 3 | But barring a possible exception in favor of a not impossible wife, or
of his mother, or, of course, the fair relatives of his friends, Terrys
idea seemed to be that pretty women were just so much game and homely
ones not worth considering.
It was really unpleasant sometimes to see the notions he had.
But I got out o... | 1,041 |
PG32 | 5 | CHAPTER 2.
Rash Advances
Not more than ten or fifteen miles we judged it from our landing rock to
that last village. For all our eagerness we thought it wise to keep to
the woods and go carefully.
Even Terrys ardor was held in check by his firm conviction that there
were men to be met, and we saw to it that each of ... | 1,044 |
PG32 | 6 | Girls! whispered Jeff, under his breath, as if they might fly if he
spoke aloud.
Peaches! added Terry, scarcely louder.
Peacherinos--apricot-nectarines! Whew!
They were girls, of course, no boys could ever have shown that sparkling
beauty, and yet none of us was certain at first.
We saw short hair, hatless, loose, a... | 1,074 |
PG32 | 7 | No use, gasped Terry. They got away with it. My word! The men of this
country must be good sprinters!
Inhabitants evidently arboreal, I grimly suggested. Civilized and
still arboreal--peculiar people.
You shouldnt have tried that way, Jeff protested. They were
perfectly friendly; now weve scared them.
But it was no ... | 1,025 |
PG32 | 8 | Theres no noise, I offered; but Terry snubbed me--Thats because
they are laying low for us; wed better be careful how we go in there.
Nothing could induce him to stay out, however, so we walked on.
Everything was beauty, order, perfect cleanness, and the pleasantest
sense of home over it all. As we neared the center ... | 1,009 |
PG32 | 9 | A large building opened before us, a very heavy thick-walled impressive
place, big, and old-looking; of gray stone, not like the rest of the
town.
This wont do! said Terry to us, quickly. We mustnt let them get us
in this, boys. All together, now--
We stopped in our tracks. We began to explain, to make signs pointing... | 1,044 |
PG32 | 11 | CHAPTER 3.
A Peculiar Imprisonment
From a slumber as deep as death, as refreshing as that of a healthy
child, I slowly awakened.
It was like rising up, up, up through a deep warm ocean, nearer
and nearer to full light and stirring air. Or like the return to
consciousness after concussion of the brain. I was once thr... | 1,100 |
PG32 | 12 | Then there was a thicker variety of union suit, a lot of them in the
closet, of varying weights and somewhat sturdier material--evidently
they would do at a pinch with nothing further. Then there were tunics,
knee-length, and some long robes. Needless to say, we took tunics.
We bathed and dressed quite cheerfully.
No... | 1,019 |
PG32 | 13 | That first meal was pleasant enough, each of us quietly studying
his companion, Jeff with sincere admiration, Terry with that highly
technical look of his, as of a past master--like a lion tamer, a serpent
charmer, or some such professional. I myself was intensely interested.
It was evident that those sets of five wer... | 1,043 |
PG32 | 14 | But Jeff was getting on excellent terms with his tutor, and even his
guards, and so was I. It interested me profoundly to note and study
the subtle difference between these women and other women, and try to
account for them. In the matter of personal appearance, there was a
great difference. They all wore short hair, s... | 1,023 |
PG32 | 15 | They leaped like deer, too, with a quick folding motion of the legs,
drawn up and turned to one side with a sidelong twist of the body. I
remembered the sprawling spread-eagle way in which some of the fellows
used to come over the line--and tried to learn the trick. We did not
easily catch up with these experts, howeve... | 1,012 |
PG32 | 16 | Its a question of three things, he said. Ropes, agility, and not
being seen.
Thats the hardest part, I urged, still hoping to dissuade him. One
or another pair of eyes is on us every minute except at night.
Therefore we must do it at night, he answered. Thats easy.
Weve got to think that if they catch us we may not ... | 946 |
PG32 | 17 | CHAPTER 4.
Our Venture
We were standing on a narrow, irregular, all too slanting little ledge,
and should doubtless have ignominiously slipped off and broken our rash
necks but for the vine. This was a thick-leaved, wide-spreading thing, a
little like Amphelopsis.
Its not _quite_ vertical here, you see, said Terry, ... | 1,062 |
PG32 | 18 | But Jeff thoughtfully suggested that that very thing showed how careful
we should have to be, as we might run into some stalwart group of
gardeners or foresters or nut-gatherers at any minute. Careful we were,
feeling pretty sure that if we did not make good this time we were not
likely to have another opportunity; and... | 1,077 |
PG32 | 19 | Then Celis set up the little tripod again, and looked back at us,
knocking it down, pointing at it, and shaking her short curls severely.
No, she said. Bad--wrong! We were quite able to follow her.
Then she set it up once more, put the fat nut on top, and returned
to the others; and there those aggravating girls sat a... | 1,047 |
PG32 | 20 | We stopped for lunch in quite a sizable town, and here, rolling slowly
through the streets, we saw more of the population. They had come out
to look at us everywhere we had passed, but here were more; and when we
went in to eat, in a big garden place with little shaded tables among
the trees and flowers, many eyes were... | 959 |
PG32 | 21 | Yes, men, Terry indicated his beard, and threw back his broad
shoulders. Men, real men.
No, she answered quietly. There are no men in this country. There has
not been a man among us for two thousand years.
Her look was clear and truthful and she did not advance this astonishing
statement as if it was astonishing, but... | 1,002 |
PG32 | 22 | Will you tell us how it came about? Jeff pursued. You said for two
thousand years--did you have men here before that?
Yes, answered Zava.
They were all quiet for a little.
You should have our full history to read--do not be alarmed--it has
been made clear and short. It took us a long time to learn how to write
histo... | 635 |
PG32 | 23 | CHAPTER 5.
A Unique History
It is no use for me to try to piece out this account with adventures.
If the people who read it are not interested in these amazing women and
their history, they will not be interested at all.
As for us--three young men to a whole landful of women--what could we
do? We did get away, as de... | 1,033 |
PG32 | 24 | Then we explained that--well, that it wasnt a question of fathers
exactly; that nobody wanted a--a mother dog; that, well, that
practically all our dogs were males--there was only a very small
percentage of females allowed to live.
Then Zava, observing Terry with her grave sweet smile, quoted back at
him: Rather hard ... | 1,159 |
PG32 | 25 | We learned their language pretty thoroughly--had to; and they learned
ours much more quickly and used it to hasten our own studies.
Jeff, who was never without reading matter of some sort, had two little
books with him, a novel and a little anthology of verse; and I had one
of those pocket encyclopedias--a fat little ... | 1,094 |
PG32 | 26 | Well--that original bunch of girls set to work to clean up the place and
make their living as best they could. Some of the remaining slave women
rendered invaluable service, teaching such trades as they knew. They
had such records as were then kept, all the tools and implements of the
time, and a most fertile land to w... | 1,032 |
PG32 | 27 | The tradition of men as guardians and protectors had quite died out.
These stalwart virgins had no men to fear and therefore no need of
protection. As to wild beasts--there were none in their sheltered land.
The power of mother-love, that maternal instinct we so highly laud, was
theirs of course, raised to its highest... | 1,025 |
PG32 | 28 | But very early they recognized the need of improvement as well as
of mere repetition, and devoted their combined intelligence to that
problem--how to make the best kind of people. First this was merely the
hope of bearing better ones, and then they recognized that however
the children differed at birth, the real growth... | 685 |
PG32 | 29 | CHAPTER 6.
Comparisons Are Odious
I had always been proud of my country, of course. Everyone is. Compared
with the other lands and other races I knew, the United States of
America had always seemed to me, speaking modestly, as good as the best
of them.
But just as a clear-eyed, intelligent, perfectly honest, and
wel... | 1,021 |
PG32 | 30 | Of history--outside their own--they knew nothing, of course, save for
their ancient traditions.
Of astronomy they had a fair working knowledge--that is a very old
science; and with it, a surprising range and facility in mathematics.
Physiology they were quite familiar with. Indeed, when it came to the
simpler and mor... | 987 |
PG32 | 31 | Oh no, she said quickly, in real surprise. The danger is quite the
other way. They might hurt you. If, by any accident, you did harm any
one of us, you would have to face a million mothers.
He looked so amazed and outraged that Jeff and I laughed outright, but
she went on gently.
I do not think you quite understand y... | 984 |
PG32 | 32 | Not by a struggle for existence which would result in an everlasting
writhing mass of underbred people trying to get ahead of one
another--some few on top, temporarily, many constantly crushed out
underneath, a hopeless substratum of paupers and degenerates, and no
serenity or peace for anyone, no possibility for reall... | 1,056 |
PG32 | 33 | She explained to me, with sweet seriousness, that as I had supposed, at
first each woman bore five children; and that, in their eager desire
to build up a nation, they had gone on in that way for a few centuries,
till they were confronted with the absolute need of a limit. This fact
was equally plain to all--all were e... | 1,014 |
PG32 | 35 | CHAPTER 7.
Our Growing Modesty
Being at last considered sufficiently tamed and trained to be trusted
with scissors, we barbered ourselves as best we could. A close-trimmed
beard is certainly more comfortable than a full one. Razors, naturally,
they could not supply.
With so many old women youd think thered be some r... | 1,061 |
PG32 | 36 | Oh yes, Moadine told him. A good many of us have another, as we get
on in life--a descriptive one. That is the name we earn. Sometimes even
that is changed, or added to, in an unusually rich life. Such as our
present Land Mother--what you call president or king, I believe. She
was called Mera, even as a child; that mea... | 1,013 |
PG32 | 37 | The most conspicuous feature of the whole land was the perfection of
its food supply. We had begun to notice from that very first walk in the
forest, the first partial view from our plane. Now we were taken to see
this mighty garden, and shown its methods of culture.
The country was about the size of Holland, some ten... | 1,093 |
PG32 | 38 | They had early decided that trees were the best food plants, requiring
far less labor in tilling the soil, and bearing a larger amount of food
for the same ground space; also doing much to preserve and enrich the
soil.
Due regard had been paid to seasonable crops, and their fruit and nuts,
grains and berries, kept on ... | 1,013 |
PG32 | 39 | It stands to reason, doesnt it? he argued. The whole things deuced
unnatural--Id say impossible if we werent in it. And an unnatural
conditions sure to have unnatural results. Youll find some awful
characteristics--see if you dont! For instance--we dont know yet what
they do with their criminals--their defectives--thei... | 1,030 |
PG32 | 41 | CHAPTER 8.
The Girls of Herland
At last Terrys ambition was realized. We were invited, always
courteously and with free choice on our part, to address general
audiences and classes of girls.
I remember the first time--and how careful we were about our clothes,
and our amateur barbering. Terry, in particular, was fus... | 1,014 |
PG32 | 42 | I watched Terry with special interest, knowing how he had longed for
this time, and how irresistible he had always been at home. And I could
see, just in snatches, of course, how his suave and masterful approach
seemed to irritate them; his too-intimate glances were vaguely resented,
his compliments puzzled and annoyed... | 1,067 |
PG32 | 43 | We thought--at least Terry did--that we could have our pick of them.
They thought--very cautiously and farsightedly--of picking us, if it
seemed wise.
All that time we were in training they studied us, analyzed us, prepared
reports about us, and this information was widely disseminated all about
the land.
Not a girl ... | 1,055 |
PG32 | 44 | I ceased to feel a stranger, a prisoner. There was a sense of
understanding, of identity, of purpose. We discussed--everything. And,
as I traveled farther and farther, exploring the rich, sweet soul of
her, my sense of pleasant friendship became but a broad foundation for
such height, such breadth, such interlocked com... | 1,022 |
PG32 | 45 | Here everything was different. There was no sex-feeling to appeal to, or
practically none. Two thousand years disuse had left very little of the
instinct; also we must remember that those who had at times manifested
it as atavistic exceptions were often, by that very fact, denied
motherhood.
Yet while the mother proce... | 1,018 |
PG32 | 46 | But our times coming, he added cheerfully. These women have never
been mastered, you see-- This, as one who had made a discovery.
Youd better not try to do any mastering if you value your chances,
I told him seriously; but he only laughed, and said, Every man to his
trade!
We couldnt do anything with him. He had to ... | 803 |
PG32 | 47 | CHAPTER 9.
Our Relations and Theirs
What Im trying to show here is that with these women the whole
relationship of life counted in a glad, eager growing-up to join the
ranks of workers in the line best loved; a deep, tender reverence for
ones own mother--too deep for them to speak of freely--and beyond that,
the whol... | 1,031 |
PG32 | 48 | I was thinking of Elladors eyes when they gave me a certain look, a
look she did not at all realize.
Jeff was equally incensed. I dont know what virtues of women you
miss. Seems to me they have all of them.
Theyve no modesty, snapped Terry. No patience, no submissiveness,
none of that natural yielding which is womans... | 1,119 |
PG32 | 49 | They found themselves in a big bright lovely world, full of the most
interesting and enchanting things to learn about and to do. The people
everywhere were friendly and polite. No Herland child ever met the
overbearing rudeness we so commonly show to children. They were People,
too, from the first; the most precious pa... | 976 |
PG32 | 50 | This seemed to us a wholly incredible thing: first, that any nation
should have the foresight, the strength, and the persistence to plan
and fulfill such a task; and second, that women should have had so much
initiative. We have assumed, as a matter of course, that women had
none; that only the man, with his natural en... | 1,002 |
PG32 | 51 | I betook myself to Somel one day, carefully not taking Ellador. I did
not mind seeming foolish to Somel--she was used to it.
I want a chapter of explanation, I told her. You know my stupidities
by heart, and I do not want to show them to Ellador--she thinks me so
wise!
She smiled delightedly. It is beautiful to see, ... | 1,033 |
PG32 | 52 | As part of your system of education, you mean?
Exactly. As the most valuable part. With the babies, as you may have
noticed, we first provide an environment which feeds the mind without
tiring it; all manner of simple and interesting things to do, as soon
as they are old enough to do them; physical properties, of cour... | 960 |
PG32 | 53 | CHAPTER 10.
Their Religions and Our Marriages
It took me a long time, as a man, a foreigner, and a species
of Christian--I was that as much as anything--to get any clear
understanding of the religion of Herland.
Its deification of motherhood was obvious enough; but there was far more
to it than that; or, at least, t... | 1,057 |
PG32 | 54 | Ellador watched me think. She seemed to know pretty much what was going
on in my mind.
Its because we began in a new way, I suppose. All our folks were
swept away at once, and then, after that time of despair, came those
wonder children--the first. And then the whole breathless hope of us
was for _their_ children--if ... | 1,048 |
PG32 | 55 | And we live together without any head, in that sense--just our chosen
leaders--that _does_ make a difference.
Your difference is deeper than that, I assured her. It is in your
common motherhood. Your children grow up in a world where everybody
loves them. They find life made rich and happy for them by the diffused
lov... | 1,076 |
PG32 | 56 | It is beautiful! I cried enthusiastically. It is the most practical,
comforting, progressive religion I ever heard of. You _do_ love one
another--you _do_ bear one anothers burdens--you _do_ realize that a
little child is a type of the kingdom of heaven. You are more Christian
than any people I ever saw. But--how about... | 1,088 |
PG32 | 57 | Terry, always irritating her, said it was a sign of possession. You are
going to be Mrs. Nicholson, he said. Mrs. T. O. Nicholson. That shows
everyone that you are my wife.
What is a wife exactly? she demanded, a dangerous gleam in her eye.
A wife is the woman who belongs to a man, he began.
But Jeff took it up eage... | 1,039 |
PG32 | 59 | CHAPTER 11.
Our Difficulties
We say, Marriage is a lottery; also Marriages are made in
Heaven--but this is not so widely accepted as the other.
We have a well-founded theory that it is best to marry in ones class,
and certain well-grounded suspicions of international marriages, which
seem to persist in the interest... | 964 |
PG32 | 60 | For the lower one, try to imagine a male ant, coming from some state of
existence where ants live in pairs, endeavoring to set up housekeeping
with a female ant from a highly developed anthill. This female ant might
regard him with intense personal affection, but her ideas of parentage
and economic management would be ... | 1,102 |
PG32 | 61 | Long since we had been given our own two rooms apiece, and as being of a
different sex and race, these were in a separate house. It seemed to be
recognized that we should breathe easier if able to free our minds in
real seclusion.
For food we either went to any convenient eating-house, ordered a meal
brought in, or to... | 975 |
PG32 | 62 | They do, I said, with some bitterness. They are not mere parents.
They are men and women, and they love each other.
How long? asked Ellador, rather unexpectedly.
How long? I repeated, a little dashed. Why as long as they live.
There is something very beautiful in the idea, she admitted, still as
if she were discussi... | 999 |
PG32 | 63 | Confound it! I hadnt married the nation, and I told her so. But she
only smiled at her own limitations and explained that she had to think
in wes.
Confound it again! Here Id have all my energies focused on one wish,
and before I knew it shed have them dissipated in one direction or
another, some subject of discussion ... | 1,015 |
PG32 | 64 | Things grew strained very soon between them. I fancy at first, when
they were together, in her great hope of parentage and his keen joy of
conquest--that Terry was inconsiderate. In fact, I know it, from things
he said.
You neednt talk to me, he snapped at Jeff one day, just before
our weddings. There never was a woma... | 1,033 |
PG32 | 66 | CHAPTER 12.
Expelled
We had all meant to go home again. Indeed we had _not_ meant--not by
any means--to stay as long as we had. But when it came to being turned
out, dismissed, sent away for bad conduct, we none of us really liked
it.
Terry said he did. He professed great scorn of the penalty and the
trial, as well ... | 1,053 |
PG32 | 67 | We had quite easily come to accept the Herland life as normal, because
it was normal--none of us make any outcry over mere health and peace
and happy industry. And the abnormal, to which we are all so sadly well
acclimated, she had never seen.
The two things she cared most to hear about, and wanted most to see,
were t... | 1,007 |
PG32 | 68 | They had no faintest approach to such a thing in their minds, knowing
nothing of the custom of marital indulgence among us. To them the one
high purpose of motherhood had been for so long the governing law of
life, and the contribution of the father, though known to them, so
distinctly another method to the same end, t... | 1,005 |
PG32 | 69 | Do not imagine that these young women utterly refused the Great New
Hope, as they called it, that of dual parentage. For that they had
agreed to marry us, though the marrying part of it was a concession
to our prejudices rather than theirs. To them the process was the holy
thing--and they meant to keep it holy.
But so... | 1,062 |
PG32 | 70 | After I got over the jar to my pride (which Jeff, I truly think, never
felt--he was a born worshipper, and which Terry never got over--he
was quite clear in his ideas of the position of women), I found that
loving up was a very good sensation after all. It gave me a queer
feeling, way down deep, as of the stirring of s... | 1,074 |
PG32 | 71 | Well--we had to get the flyer in order, and be sure there was enough
fuel left, though Terry said we could glide all right, down to that
lake, once we got started. Wed have gone gladly in a weeks time, of
course, but there was a great to-do all over the country about
Elladors leaving them. She had interviews with some ... | 1,000 |
PG33 | 3 | There was one thing that much aided me in renewing and re-creating the
stalwart soldier of the Niagara frontierthe man of true and simple
energy. It was the recollection of those memorable words of hisIll
try, Sirspoken on the very verge of a desperate and heroic
enterprise, and breathing the soul and spirit of New Eng... | 1,050 |
PG33 | 4 | Literature, its exertions and objects, were now of little moment in my
regard. I cared not at this period for books; they were apart from me.
Natureexcept it were human naturethe nature that is developed in
earth and sky, was, in one sense, hidden from me; and all the
imaginative delight wherewith it had been spiritual... | 1,006 |
PG33 | 5 | In the second storey of the Custom-House there is a large room, in
which the brick-work and naked rafters have never been covered with
panelling and plaster. The edificeoriginally projected on a scale
adapted to the old commercial enterprise of the port, and with an idea
of subsequent prosperity destined never to be re... | 1,153 |
PG33 | 7 | This incident recalled my mind, in some degree, to its old track. There
seemed to be here the groundwork of a tale. It impressed me as if the
ancient Surveyor, in his garb of a hundred years gone by, and wearing
his immortal wigwhich was buried with him, but did not perish in the
gravehad met me in the deserted chamber... | 1,071 |
PG33 | 8 | If the imaginative faculty refused to act at such an hour, it might
well be deemed a hopeless case. Moonlight, in a familiar room, falling
so white upon the carpet, and showing all its figures so
distinctlymaking every object so minutely visible, yet so unlike a
morning or noontide visibilityis a medium the most suitab... | 1,191 |
PG33 | 9 | These perceptions had come too late. At the Instant, I was only
conscious that what would have been a pleasure once was now a hopeless
toil. There was no occasion to make much moan about this state of
affairs. I had ceased to be a writer of tolerably poor tales and
essays, and had become a tolerably good Surveyor of th... | 1,224 |
PG33 | 10 | A remarkable event of the third year of my Surveyorshipto adopt the
tone of P. P.was the election of General Taylor to the Presidency.
It is essential, in order to form a complete estimate of the advantages
of official life, to view the incumbent at the incoming of a hostile
administration. His position is then one of ... | 1,202 |
PG33 | 11 | Meanwhile, the press had taken up my affair, and kept me for a week or
two careering through the public prints, in my decapitated state, like
Irvings Headless Horseman, ghastly and grim, and longing to be buried,
as a political dead man ought. So much for my figurative self. The real
human being all this time, with his... | 1,036 |
PG33 | 12 | THE SCARLET LETTER
I.
THE PRISON DOOR
A throng of bearded men, in sad-coloured garments and grey
steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and
others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door
of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes.
The f... | 1,145 |
PG33 | 13 | It was a circumstance to be noted on the summer morning when our story
begins its course, that the women, of whom there were several in the
crowd, appeared to take a peculiar interest in whatever penal
infliction might be expected to ensue. The age had not so much
refinement, that any sense of impropriety restrained th... | 1,176 |
PG33 | 15 | In fact, this scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine, which
now, for two or three generations past, has been merely historical and
traditionary among us, but was held, in the old time, to be as
effectual an agent, in the promotion of good citizenship, as ever was
the guillotine among the terrorists of France... | 1,235 |
PG33 | 16 | Be that as it might, the scaffold of the pillory was a point of view
that revealed to Hester Prynne the entire track along which she had
been treading, since her happy infancy. Standing on that miserable
eminence, she saw again her native village, in Old England, and her
paternal home: a decayed house of grey stone, wi... | 1,204 |
PG33 | 17 | Then touching the shoulder of a townsman who stood near to him, he
addressed him in a formal and courteous manner:
I pray you, good Sir, said he, who is this woman?and wherefore is
she here set up to public shame?
You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend, answered the
townsman, looking curiously at the que... | 1,221 |
PG33 | 18 | Hearken unto me, Hester Prynne! said the voice.
It has already been noticed that directly over the platform on which
Hester Prynne stood was a kind of balcony, or open gallery, appended to
the meeting-house. It was the place whence proclamations were wont to
be made, amidst an assemblage of the magistracy, with all th... | 1,048 |
PG33 | 19 | The directness of this appeal drew the eyes of the whole crowd upon the
Reverend Mr. Dimmesdaleyoung clergyman, who had come from one of the
great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into
our wild forest land. His eloquence and religious fervour had already
given the earnest of high eminence in h... | 1,059 |
PG33 | 20 | I will not speak! answered Hester, turning pale as death, but
responding to this voice, which she too surely recognised. And my
child must seek a heavenly father; she shall never know an earthly
one!
She will not speak! murmured Mr. Dimmesdale, who, leaning over the
balcony, with his hand upon his heart, had awaited t... | 1,170 |
PG33 | 21 | My old studies in alchemy, observed he, and my sojourn, for above a
year past, among a people well versed in the kindly properties of
simples, have made a better physician of me than many that claim the
medical degree. Here, woman! The child is yoursshe is none of
mineneither will she recognise my voice or aspect as a ... | 1,225 |
PG33 | 22 | Thou knowest, said Hesterfor, depressed as she was, she could not
endure this last quiet stab at the token of her shamethou knowest
that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any.
True, replied he. It was my folly! I have said it. But, up to that
epoch of my life, I had lived in vain. The world had been s... | 1,161 |
PG33 | 23 | I will keep thy secret, as I have his, said Hester.
Swear it! rejoined he.
And she took the oath.
And now, Mistress Prynne, said old Roger Chillingworth, as he was
hereafter to be named, I leave thee alone: alone with thy infant and
the scarlet letter! How is it, Hester? Doth thy sentence bind thee to
wear the token... | 1,152 |
PG33 | 24 | It might be, toodoubtless it was so, although she hid the secret from
herself, and grew pale whenever it struggled out of her heart, like a
serpent from its holeit might be that another feeling kept her within
the scene and pathway that had been so fatal. There dwelt, there trode,
the feet of one with whom she deemed h... | 1,124 |
PG33 | 26 | Continually, and in a thousand other ways, did she feel the innumerable
throbs of anguish that had been so cunningly contrived for her by the
undying, the ever-active sentence of the Puritan tribunal. Clergymen
paused in the streets, to address words of exhortation, that brought a
crowd, with its mingled grin and frown... | 1,211 |
PG33 | 29 | The truth was, that the little Puritans, being of the most intolerant
brood that ever lived, had got a vague idea of something outlandish,
unearthly, or at variance with ordinary fashions, in the mother and
child, and therefore scorned them in their hearts, and not unfrequently
reviled them with their tongues. Pearl fe... | 1,246 |
PG33 | 30 | Once this freakish, elvish cast came into the childs eyes while Hester
was looking at her own image in them, as mothers are fond of doing; and
suddenlyfor women in solitude, and with troubled hearts, are pestered
with unaccountable delusionsshe fancied that she beheld, not her own
miniature portrait, but another face i... | 1,119 |
PG33 | 31 | Another and far more important reason than the delivery of a pair of
embroidered gloves, impelled Hester, at this time, to seek an interview
with a personage of so much power and activity in the affairs of the
settlement. It had reached her ears that there was a design on the part
of some of the leading inhabitants, ch... | 1,010 |
PG33 | 34 | Behind the Governor and Mr. Wilson came two other guestsone, the
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, whom the reader may remember as having
taken a brief and reluctant part in the scene of Hester Prynnes
disgrace; and, in close companionship with him, old Roger
Chillingworth, a person of great skill in physic, who for two or t... | 1,119 |
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