冷山

Inman had attended church expressly for the purpose of viewing her. In the weeks following Ada’s arrival in Cold Mountain， Inman had heard much about her before he saw her. She and her father stayed too long green in the country they had taken up， and they soon became a source of great comedy to many households along the river road. For people to sit on the porch and watch Ada and Monroe pass by in the 1）cabriolet or to see Ada on one of her nature walks along the big road was as near to theater as most would come， and she provoked as much discussion as a new production at the Dock Street opera. All agreed that she was pretty enough， but her very choice of 2）Charleston 3）garb or flourish of hairstyle was subject to ridicule. If she were seen holding a stem of 4）beardtongue blossoms to admire their color or stooping to touch the spikes of jimson leaves， some would solemnly call her mazed in the head not to know beardtongue when she saw it， and others would wonder， grinning， was she so wit-scoured as perhaps to eat jimson？ Gossip had it that she went about with a notebook and pencil and would stare at a thing—bird or bush， weed， sunset， mountain—and then scratch at paper awhile as if she were 5）addled enough in her thinking that she might forget what was important to her if she did not mark it down.

So one Sunday morning Inman dressed himself carefully—in a new black suit， white shirt， black tie， black hat—and set out for church to view Ada. It was a time of blackberry winter and a chill rain had fallen without pause for three days， and though the rain had stopped sometime in the night， the morning sun had not yet burned through the clouds， and the slash of sky visible between the ridgelines was dark and low and utterly without feature. The roads were nothing but sucking mud， and so Inman had arrived late and taken a seat at a rear 6）pew. There was already a 7）hymn going. Someone had lit a greenwood fire in the stove. It smoked from around the top plate， and the smoke rose to the ceiling and spread flat against the beadboards and hung there grey like a miniature of the actual sky.

Inman had but the back of her head to find Ada by， yet that took only a moment since her dark hair was done up in a heavy and intricate plait of such recent fashion that it was not then known in the mountains. Below where her hair was twisted up， two faint cords of muscle ran up under the skin on either side of her white neck to hold her head on. Between them a scoop， a shaded hollow of skin. Curls too fine to be worked up into the plait. All through the hymn， Inman’s eyes rested there， so that after awhile， even before he saw her face， all he wanted was to press two fingertips against that mystery place.

Monroe began the sermon by commenting on the hymn they had all just mouthed. Its words seemed to look with passionate yearning to a time when they would be immersed in an ocean of love. But Monroe preached that they were misunderstanding the song if they fooled themselves into thinking all creation would someday love them. What it really required was for them to love all creation. That was altogether a more difficult thing and， to judge by the congregation’s reaction， somewhat shocking and distressful.

When the service 8）concluded， the men and women left the church by their separate doors. Muddy horses stood asleep in their traces， their rigs and traps behind them 9）mired up to the 10）spokes in mud. The voices of the people awoke them， and one chestnut 11）mare shook her 12）hide with the sound of flapping a dirty carpet. The 13）churchyard was filled with the smell of mud and wet leaves and wet clothes and wet horses. The men lined up to shake hands with Monroe， and then they all milled about the wet churchyard visiting and speculating on whether the rain had quit or was just resting. Some of the elders talked in low voices about the queerness of Monroe’s sermon and its lack of Scripture and about how they admired his stubbornness in the face of other people’s desires.

The unmarried men wadded up together， standing with their muddy boots and spattered pant cuffs in a circle. Their talk had more of Saturday night to it than Sunday morning， and all of them periodically cut their eyes to where Ada stood at the edge of the graveyard looking altogether foreign and beautiful and utterly awkward. Everyone else wore woolens against the damp chill， but Ada had on an ivory-colored linen dress with lace at the collar and sleeves and hem. She seemed to have chosen it more by the calendar than the weather. She stood holding her elbows. The older women came to her and said things and then there were 14）knotty pauses and then they went away. Inman noted that every time she was approached， Ada took a step back until she fetched up against the 15）headstone of a man who had fought in the Revolution.

“If I went and told her my name， reckon she’d say ought to me back？” said a Dillard man who had come to church for precisely the same reason Inman had.

“I couldn’t say，” Inman said.

“You’d not begin to know where to start 16）courting her，” Hob Mars said to Dillard. “Best leave that to me.” Mars was shortish and big through the chest. He had a fat watch that 17）pooched out his vest pocket and a silver chain that ran to his pant waist and a scrolled fob hanging from the chain.

Dillard said， “You think you bore with a mighty big auger.”

“I don’t think it， I know it，” Mars said.

Then another man， one of such slight build and irregular features that he was but a bystander， said， “I’d bet a hundred dollars against a half a ginger cake that she’s got a husband-elect down in Charleston.”

“They can be forgot，” Hob said. “Many has been before.”

Then Hob stared at Inman and surveyed his strict attire. “You look like the law，” he said. “A man courting needs some color about him.”

Inman could see that they would all talk the topic round and round until one or another that day might eventually draw up the nerve to go to her and make a fool of himself. Or else they would insult each other until a pair of them would have to meet down the road and fight. So he touched a finger to his brow and said，“Boys”， and walked away. He went straight over to Sally Swanger and said， “I’d clear an acre of newground for an introduction.”

Sally had on a 18）bonnet with a long bill to it so that she had to step back and cock her head to throw the shade off her eyes and look up at Inman. She grinned at him and put her hand up and touched a 19）pinchbeck 20）brooch at her collar and rubbed her fingers across it. “Notice I’m not even asking who to，” she said.

“Now would be the time，” Inman said， looking to where Ada stood alone， her back to the people， slightly stooped， peering in apparent fascination at the 21）inscription on the gravestone. The bottom foot of her dress was wet from the tall gravegrass and the tail of it had sometime dragged in mud.

Mrs. Swanger took Inman’s black coat sleeve between finger and thumb and pulled him by such slight harness across the yard to Ada. When his sleeve was let go， he raised the hand to take off his hat； then with the other he raked through his hair all around where it was pressed and banded. He swept the hair back at each temple and rubbed his palm from brow to chin to compose his face. Mrs. Swanger cleared her throat， and Ada turned.

“Miss Monroe，” Sally Swanger said， her face bright. “Mr. Inman has expressed a deep interest in becoming acquainted. You’ve met his parents. His people built the chapel，” she added by way of reference， before she walked away.

Ada looked Inman directly in the face， and he realized too late that he had not planned what to say. Before he could formulate a phrase， Ada said， “Yes？”

There was not much patience in her voice， and for some reason Inman found that amusing. He looked off to the side， down toward where the river bent around the hill， and tried to bring down the corners of his mouth. The leaves on trees and 22）rhododendron at the riverbanks were glossed and drooping with the weight of water. The river ran heavy and dark in curves like melted glass where it bowed over hidden rocks and then sank into troughs. Inman held his hat by the crown and for lack of anything to say he looked down into the hole as if， from previous experience， he waited in sincere expectation that something might emerge.

Ada stood a moment looking at his face， and then after a time she looked into the hole of the hat too. Inman caught himself， fearing that the expression on his face was that of a dog sitting at the lip of a groundhog 23）burrow. He looked at Ada， and she turned up her palms and raised an eyebrow to signify a general question.

“You’re free to put your hat back on and say something，” she said.

“It’s just that you’ve been the subject of considerable speculation，” Inman said.

“Like a novelty， is it， speaking to me？”

“No.”

“A challenge， then. Perhaps from that circle of dullards there.”

“Not at all.”

“Well， then， you supply the simile.”

“Like grabbing up a chestnut burr， at least thus far.”

Ada smiled and nodded. She had not figured him to know the word. Then she said，“Tell me this. A woman earlier commented on the recent weather. She called it sheep-killing weather. I’ve been wondering， can’t get it out of my mind. Did she mean weather appropriate for slaughtering sheep or weather foul enough to kill them itself without assistance， perhaps by drowning or pneumonia？”

“The first，” Inman said.

“Well， then， I thank you. You’ve served a useful purpose.”

She turned and walked away to her father. Inman watched her touch Monroe’s arm and say something to him， and they went to the cabriolet and climbed in and wheeled off， fading down the lane between fencerows thicketed with blossoming blackberry canes.

英曼去教堂，完全是為了見識一下艾達。在艾達剛到冷山的那幾個星期里，英曼未見其人便先聞其名，聽到不少關于她的傳言。艾達和她的父親就像一對愣頭青，融入當地社會的速度太慢，很快便成了河邊路上許多家庭娛樂的源泉。對大家來說，坐在門廊上，看艾達和門羅乘著馬車駛過，或者看著艾達沿大路漫步領略風景，簡直就和看戲一樣，而她引起的議論，絕不比碼頭大街劇院上演的一部新劇目少。大家一致認為艾達夠漂亮，但她那身查爾斯頓式的裝束或華麗的發式，都成了被取笑的目標。如果瞧見她拿著一支開花的釣鐘柳枝，對花瓣的顏色贊嘆不已，或是用手去碰觸曼佗羅葉子的尖端，一些人就會以嚴肅的口吻說她的腦子肯定有問題，見到釣鐘柳都不認識；而另一些人則燦然一笑，心想，她難道真有那么呆，竟然連曼佗羅都要吃？據傳言，她走到哪兒都帶著筆記本和鉛筆，盯上了一個東西——鳥或灌木、雜草、落日、大山——就在紙上勾抹一氣，就像她已經糊涂透頂，如果不把重要的東西畫下來，她轉眼便會拋諸腦后似的。

于是，一個禮拜天的早晨，英曼精心打扮一番——全新的黑色西服、白襯衫、黑領帶、黑帽子——出發去教堂，要一睹艾達芳容。時當黑莓花開，一場倒春寒，冷雨連下三天，昨晚才停，但早晨的太陽還沒有驅散云層。道道山脊之間，看得到一抹蒼穹，陰暗低垂的，毫無色彩層次。路上滿是粘腳的泥漿，所以英曼很晚才趕到教堂，坐在靠后的長椅上。……