第 19 节
作者:嘟嘟      更新:2021-02-20 05:57      字数:9305
  and wide over his native land。           But as you; my child; care most about this
  country  in   which   you   live;   I   will   show  you   in   any  gravel…pit;   or   hollow
  lane upon the moor; the marks; not of a glacier; which is an ice…river; but
  of a whole sea of ice。
  Let us come up to the pit upon the top of the hill; and look carefully at
  60
  … Page 61…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  what we see there。        The lower part of the pit of course is a solid rock of
  sand。     On the top of that is a cap of gravel; five; six; ten feet thick。           Now
  the sand was   laid down there by water   at the bottom of an old sea;   and
  therefore the top of it would naturally be flat and smooth; as the sands at
  Hunstanton or at Bournemouth are; and the gravel; if it was laid down by
  water; would naturally lie flat on it again:           but it does not。      See how the
  top of the sand is dug out into deep waves and pits; filled up with gravel。
  And see; too; how over some of the gravel you get sand again; and then
  gravel   again;   and   then   sand   again;   till   you   cannot   tell   where   one   fairly
  begins and the other ends。         Why; here are little dots of gravel; six or eight
  feet down; in what looks the solid sand rock; yet the sand must have been
  opened somehow to put the gravel in。
  You say you have seen that before。             You have seen the same curious
  twisting of the gravel and sand into each other on the top of Farley Hill;
  and   in   the   new   cutting   on   Minley   Hill;   and;   best   of   all;   in   the   railway
  cutting   between   Ascot   and   Sunningdale;   where   upon   the   top   the   white
  sand   and   gravel   is   arranged   in   red   and   brown   waves;   and   festoons;   and
  curlicues;     almost   like   Prince   of  Wales's    feathers。    Yes;    that  last  is  a
  beautiful     section   of   ice…  work;    so   beautiful;   that   I  hope   to  have    it
  photographed some day。
  Now; how did ice do this?
  Well; I was many a year before I found out that; and I dare say I never
  should have found it out for myself。            A gentleman named Trimmer; who;
  alas! is now dead; was; I believe; the first to find it out。               He knew that
  along the coast of Labrador; and other cold parts of North America; and on
  the shores; too; of the great river St。 Lawrence; the stranded icebergs; and
  the ice…foot; as it is called; which is continually forming along the freezing
  shores; grub and plough every tide into the mud and sand; and shove up
  before them; like a ploughshare; heaps of dirt; and that; too; the ice itself is
  full of dirt; of sand and stones; which it may have brought from hundreds
  of miles away; and that; as this ploughshare of dirty ice grubs onward; the
  nose of the plough is continually being broken off; and left underneath the
  mud; and that; when summer comes; and the ice melts; the mud falls back
  into the place where the ice had been; and covers up the gravel which was
  61
  … Page 62…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  in the ice。     So; what between the grubbing of the ice…plough into the mud;
  and the dirt which it leaves behind when it melts; the stones; and sand; and
  mud upon the shore are jumbled up into curious curved and twisted layers;
  exactly   like   those   which   Mr。   Trimmer   saw   in   certain   gravel…pits。        And
  when   I   first   read   about   that;   I   said;   〃And   exactly  like   what   I   have   been
  seeing in every gravel…pit round here; and trying to guess how they could
  have been made by currents of water; and yet never could make any guess
  which would do。〃           But after that it was all explained to me; and I said;
  〃Honour   to   the   man   who   has   let   Madam   How   teach   him   what   she   had
  been trying to teach me for fifteen years; while I was too stupid to learn it。
  Now   I   am   certain;   as   certain   as   I   can   be   of   any   earthly   thing;   that   the
  whole      of   these   Windsor      Forest    Flats    were    ages   ago    ploughed      and
  harrowed   over   and   over   again;   by   ice…   floes   and   icebergs   drifting   and
  stranding in a shallow sea。〃
  And if you say; my dear child; as some people will say; that it is like
  building   a   large   house   upon   a   single   brick   to   be   sure   that   there   was   an
  iceberg sea here; just because I see a few curlicues in the gravel and sand
  then I must tell you that there are sometimesnot often; but sometimes
  pages in Madam How's book in which one single letter tells you as much
  as a whole chapter; in which if you find one little fact; and know what it
  really means; it makes you certain that a thousand other great facts have
  happened。       You may be astonished:            but you cannot deny your own eyes;
  and   your   own   common   sense。           You   feel   like   Robinson   Crusoe   when;
  walking along the shore of his desert island; he saw for the first time the
  print of a man's foot in the sand。            How it could have got there without a
  miracle   he   could   not   dream。      But   there   it   was。   One   footprint   was   as
  good   as   the   footprints   of   a   whole   army   would   have   been。      A  man   had
  been there; and more men might come。 And in fear of the savagesand if
  you   have   read   Robinson   Crusoe   you   know   how   just   his   fears   werehe
  went home trembling and loaded his muskets; and barricaded his cave; and
  passed   sleepless   nights   watching   for   the   savages   who   might   come;   and
  who came after all。
  And     so   there   are  certain    footprints    in  geology     which     there   is  no
  mistaking; and the prints of the ice…plough are among them。
  62
  … Page 63…
  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  For instance:… When they were trenching the new plantation close to
  Wellington College station; the men turned up out of the ground a great
  many      Sarsden     stones;   that   is;  pieces   of   hard   sugary    sand;    such   as
  Stonehenge  is   made   of。       And   when   I saw   these  I  said;   〃I   suspect   these
  were brought here by icebergs:〃 but I was not sure; and waited。                      As the
  men dug on; they dug up a great many large flints; with bottle…green coats。
  〃Now;〃 I said; 〃I am sure。         For I know where these flints must have come
  from。〃     And for reasons which would be too long to tell you here; I said;
  〃Some   time   or   other;   icebergs   have   been   floating   northward   from   the
  Hog's Back over Aldershot and Farnborough; and have been trying to get
  into the Vale of Thames by  the   slope   at Wellington   College station;   and
  they have stranded; and dropped these flints。〃               And I am so sure of that;
  that if I found myself out wrong after all I should be at my wit's end; for I
  should know that I was wrong about a hundred things besides。
  Or   again;   if   you   ever   go   up   Deeside   in   Scotland;   towards   Balmoral;
  and turn up Glen Muick; towards Alt…na…guisach; of which you may see a
  picture in the Queen's last book; you will observe standing on your right
  hand; just above Birk Hall; three pretty rounded knolls; which they call the
  Coile   Hills。     You   may   easily   know   them   by   their   being   covered   with
  beautiful green grass instead of heather。           That is because they are made of
  serpentine   or   volcanic   rock;   which   (as   you   have   seen)   often   cuts   into
  beautiful   red   and   green   marble;   and   which   also   carries   a   very   rich   soil
  because it is full of magnesia。         If you go up those hills; you get a glorious
  viewthe mountains sweeping round you where you stand; up to the top
  of   Lochnagar;   with   its   bleak   walls   a   thousand     feet   perpendicular;   and
  gullies into which the sun never shines; and round to the dark fir forests of
  the Ballochbuie。        That is the arc of the bow; and the cord of the bow is
  the silver Dee; more than a thousand feet below you; and in the centre of
  the   cord;   where   the   arrow   would   be   fitted   in;   stands   Balmoral;   with   its
  Castle;     and    its  Gardens;     and    its  Park;    and    pleasant    cottages    and
  homesteads       all  around。    And     when     you   have   looked     at  the  beautiful
  amphitheatre of forest at your feet; and looked too at the great mountains
  to the westward; and Benaun; and Benna…buird and Benna… muicdhui; with
  their bright patches of eternal snow; I should advise you to look at the rock