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a mortal antipathy-第18章

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was just on the edge of an abyss; ready to fall over。



What strange early impression was it which led a certain lady always

to shriek aloud if she ventured to enter a church; as it is recorded?

The old and simple way of accounting for it would be the scriptural

one; that it was an unclean spirit who dwelt in her; and who; when

she entered the holy place and brought her spiritual tenant into the

presence of the sacred symbols; 〃cried with a loud voice; and came

out of〃 her。  A very singular case; the doctor himself had recorded;

and which the reader may accept as authentic; is the following: At

the head of the doctor's front stairs stood; and still stands; a tall

clock; of early date and stately presence。  A middle…aged visitor;

noticing it as he entered the front door; remarked that he should

feel a great unwillingness to pass that clock。  He could not go near

one of those tall timepieces without a profound agitation; which he

dreaded to undergo。  This very singular idiosyncrasy he attributed to

a fright when he was an infant in the arms of his nurse。



She was standing near one of those tall clocks; when the cord which

supported one of its heavy leaden weights broke; and the weight came

crashing down to the bottom of the case。  Some effect must have been

produced upon the pulpy nerve centres from which they never

recovered。  Why should not this happen; when we know that a sudden

mental shock may be the cause of insanity?  The doctor remembered the

verse of 〃The Ancient Mariner:〃



    〃I moved my lips; the pilot shrieked

     And fell down in a fit;

     The holy hermit raised his eyes

     And prayed where he did sit。

     I took the oars; the pilot's boy;

     Who now doth crazy go;

     Laughed loud and long; and all the while

     His eyes went to and fro。〃



This is only poetry; it is true; but the poet borrowed the

description from nature; and the records of our asylums could furnish

many cases where insanity was caused by a sudden fright。



More than this; hardly a year passes that we do not read of some

person; a child commonly; killed outright by terror;scared to

death; literally。  Sad cases they often are; in which; nothing but a

surprise being intended; the shock has instantly arrested the

movements on which life depends。  If a mere instantaneous impression

can produce effects like these; such an impression might of course be

followed by consequences less fatal or formidable; but yet serious in

their nature。  If here and there a person is killed; as if by

lightning; by a sudden startling sight or sound; there must be more

numerous cases in which a terrible shock is produced by similar

apparently insignificant causes;a shock which falls short of

overthrowing the reason and does not destroy life; yet leaves a

lasting effect upon the subject of it。



This point; then; was settled in the mind of Dr。 Butts; namely; that;

as a violent emotion caused by a sudden shock can kill or craze a

human being; there is no perversion of the faculties; no prejudice;

no change of taste or temper; no eccentricity; no antipathy; which

such a cause may not rationally account for。  He would not be

surprised; he said to himself; to find that some early alarm; like

that which was experienced by Peter the Great or that which happened

to Pascal; had broken some spring in this young man's nature; or so

changed its mode of action as to account for the exceptional

remoteness of his way of life。  But how could any conceivable

antipathy be so comprehensive as to keep a young man aloof from all

the world; and make a hermit of him?  He did not hate the human race;

that was clear enough。  He treated Paolo with great kindness; and the

Italian was evidently much attached to him。  He had talked naturally

and pleasantly with the young man he had helped out of his dangerous

situation when his boat was upset。  Dr。 Butts heard that he had once

made a short visit to this young man; at his rooms in the University。

It was not misanthropy; therefore; which kept him solitary。  What

could be broad enough to cover the facts of the case?  Nothing that

the doctor could think of; unless it were some color; the sight of

which acted on him as it did on the individual before mentioned; who

could not look at anything red without fainting。  Suppose this were a

case of the same antipathy。  How very careful it would make the

subject of it as to where he went and with whom he consorted!  Time

and patience would be pretty sure to bring out new developments; and

physicians; of all men in the world; know how to wait as well as how

to labor。



Such were some of the crude facts as Dr。 Butts found them in books or

gathered them from his own experience。  He soon discovered that the

story had got about the village that Maurice Kirkwood was the victim

of an 〃antipathy;〃 whatever that word might mean in the vocabulary of

the people of the place。  If he suspected the channel through which

it had reached the little community; and; spreading from that centre;

the country round; he did not see fit to make out of his suspicions a

domestic casus belli。  Paolo might have mentioned it to others as

well as to himself。  Maurice might have told some friend; who had

divulged it。  But to accuse Mrs。 Butts; good Mrs。 Butts; of petit

treason in telling one of her husband's professional secrets was too

serious a matter to be thought of。  He would be a little more

careful; he promised himself; the next time; at any rate; for he had

to concede; in spite of every wish to be charitable in his judgment;

that it was among the possibilities that the worthy lady had

forgotten the rule that a doctor's patients must put their tongues

out; and a doctor's wife must keep her tongue in。









VIII



THE PANSOPHIAN SOCIETY。



The Secretary of this association was getting somewhat tired of the

office; and the office was getting somewhat tired of him。  It

occurred to the members of the Society that a little fresh blood

infused into it might stir up the general vitality of the

organization。  The woman suffragists saw no reason why the place of

Secretary need as a matter of course be filled by a person of the

male sex。  They agitated; they made domiciliary visits; they wrote

notes to influential citizens; and finally announced as their

candidate the young lady who had won and worn the school name of 〃The

Terror;〃 who was elected。  She was just the person for the place:

wide awake; with all her wits about her; full of every kind of

knowledge; and; above all; strong on points of order and details of

management; so that she could prompt the presiding officer; to do

which is often the most essential duty of a Secretary。  The

President; the worthy rector; was good at plain sailing in the track

of the common moralities and proprieties; but was liable to get

muddled if anything came up requiring swift decision and off…hand

speech。  The Terror had schooled herself in the debating societies of

the Institute; and would set up the President; when he was floored by

an awkward question; as easily as if he were a ninepin which had been

bowled over。



It has been already mentioned that the Pansophian Society received

communications from time to time from writers outside of its own

organization。  Of late these had been becoming more frequent。  Many

of them were sent in anonymously; and as there were numerous visitors

to the village; and two institutions not far removed from it; both

full of ambitious and intelligent young persons; it was often

impossible to trace the papers to their authors。  The new Secretary

was alive with curiosity; and as sagacious a little body as one might

find if in want of a detective。  She could make a pretty shrewd guess

whether a paper was written by a young or old person; by one of her

own sex or the other; by an experienced hand or a novice。



Among the anonymous papers she received was one which exercised her

curiosity to an extraordinary degree。  She felt a strong suspicion

that 〃the Sachem;〃 as the boat…crews used to call him; 〃the Recluse;〃

〃the Night…Hawk;〃 〃the Sphinx;〃 as others named him; must be the

author of it。  It appeared to her the production of a young person of

a reflective; poetical turn of mind。  It was not a woman's way of

writing; at least; so thought the Secretary。  The writer had

travelled much; had resided in Italy; among other places。  But so had

many of the summer visitors and residents of Arrowhead Village。  The

handwriting was not decisive; it had some points of resemblance with

the pencilled orders for books which Maurice sent to the Library; but

there were certain differences; intentional or accidental; which

weakened this evidence。  There was an undertone in the essay which

was in keeping with the mode of life of the solitary stranger。  It

might be disappointment; melancholy; or only the dreamy sadness of a

young person who sees the future h
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