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the pathfinder-第1部分

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The Pathfinder; or; The Inland Sea 

by James Fenimore Cooper






PREFACE


The plan of this tale suggested itself to the writer many
years since; though the details are altogether of recent in…
vention。  The idea of associating seamen and savages in
incidents that might be supposed characteristic of the
Great Lakes having been mentioned to a Publisher; the
latter obtained something like a pledge from the Author
to carry out the design at some future day; which pledge
is now tardily and imperfectly redeemed。

The reader may recognize an old friend under new cir…
cumstances in the principal character of this legend。  If
the exhibition made of this old acquaintance; in the novel
circumstances in which he now appears; should be found
not to lessen his favor with the Public; it will be a source
of extreme gratification to the writer; since he has an in…
terest in the individual in question that falls little short
of reality。  It is not an easy task; however; to introduce
the same character in four separate works; and to maintain
the peculiatrities that are indispensable to identity; withont
incurring a risk of fatiguing the reader with sameness;
and the present experiment has been so long delayed quite
as much from doubts of its success as from any other cause。
In this; as in every other undertaking; it must be the
〃end〃 that will 〃crown the work。〃

The Indian character has so little variety; that it has
been my object to avoid dwelling on it too much on the
present occasion; its association with the sailor; too; it is
feared; will be found to have more novelty than interest。

It may strike the novice as an anachronism to place
vessels on the Ontario in the middle of the eighteenth century;
but in this particular facts will fully bear out all the li…
cense of the fiction。  Although the precise vessels men…
tioned in these pages may never have existed on that water
or anywhere else; others so nearly resembling them  are
known to have navigated that inland sea; even at a period
much earlier than the one just mentioned; as to form a
sufficient authority for their introduction into a work of
fiction。  It is a fact not generally remembered; however
well known it may be; that there are isolated spots along
the line of the great lakes that date as settlements as far
back as many of the older American towns; and which were
the seats of a species of civilization long before the greater
portion of even the older States was rescued from the wil…
derness。

Ontario in our own times has been the scene of important
naval evolutions。  Fleets have manoeuvered on those waters;
which; half a century ago; were as deserted as waters well
can be; and the day is not distant when the whole of that
vast range of lakes will become the seat of empire; and
fraught with all the interests of human society。  A pass…
ing glimpse; even though it be in a work of fiction; of
what that vast region so lately was; may help to make up
the sum of knowledge by which alone a just appreciation
can be formed of the wonderful means by which Provi…
dence is clearing the way for the advancement of civiliza…
tion across the whole American continent。



THE PATHFINDER。

CHAPTER I。

The turf shall be my fragrant shrine;
My temple; Lord ! that arch of thine;
My censer's breath the mountain airs;
And silent thoughts my only prayers。
MOORE


The sublimity connected with vastness is familiar to
every eye。  The most abstruse; the most far…reaching;
perhaps the most chastened of the poet's thoughts; crowd
on the imagination as he gazes into the depths of the
illimitable void。  The expanse of the ocean is seldom seen
by the novice with indifference; and the mind; even in
the obscurity of night; finds a parallel to that grandeur;
which seems inseparable from images that the senses can…
not compass。  With feelings akin to this admiration and
awe  the offspring of sublimity  were the different char…
acters with which the action of this tale must open; gazing
on the scene before them。  Four persons in all;  two of
each sex;  they had managed to ascend a pile of trees; that
had been uptorn by a tempest; to catch a view of the objects
that surrounded them。  It is still the practice of the coun…
try to call these spots wind…rows。  By letting in the light
of heaven upon the dark and damp recesses of the wood;
they form a sort of oases in the solemn obscurity of the
virgin forests of America。  The particular wind…row of
which we are writing lay on the brow of a gentle accliv…
ity; and; though small; it had opened the way for an ex…
tensive view to those who might occupy its upper margin;
a rare occurrence to the traveller in the woods。  Philosophy
has not yet determined the nature of the power that so
often lays desolate spots of this description; some ascrib…
ing it to the whirlwinds which produce waterspouts on the
ocean; while others again impute it to sudden and violent
passages of streams of the electric fluid; but the effects in
the woods are familiar to all。  On the upper margin of the
opening; the viewless influence had piled tree on tree; in
such a manner as had not only enabled the two males of
the party to ascend to an elevation of some thirty feet
above the level of the earth; but; with a little care and
encouragement; to induce their more timid companions to
accompany them。 The vast trunks which had been broken
and driven by the force of the gust lay blended like jack…
straws; while their branches; still exhaling the fragrance
of withering leaves; were interlaced in a manner to afford
sufficient support to the hands。  One tree had been com…
pletely uprooted; and its lower end; filled with earth; had
been cast uppermost; in a way to supply a sort of staging
for the four adventurers; when they had gained the de…
sired distance from the ground。

The reader is to anticipate none of the appliances of
people of condition in the description of the personal ap…
pearances of the group in question。  They were all way…
farers in the wilderness; and had they not been; neither
their previous habits; nor their actual social positions;
would have accustomed them to many of the luxuries of
rank。  Two of the party; indeed; a male and female; be…
longed to the native owners of the soil; being Indians of
the well…known tribe of the Tuscaroras; while their com…
panions were  a man; who bore about him the peculiarities
of one who had passed his days on the ocean; and was; too;
in a station little; if any; above that of a common mariner;
and his female associate; who was a maiden of a class in
no great degree superior to his own; though her youth;
sweetness and countenance; and a modest; but spirited mien;
lent that character of intellect and refinement which adds
so much to the charm of beauty in the sex。  On the present
occasion; her full blue eye reflected the feeling of sublimity
that the scene excited; and her pleasant face was beaming
with the pensive expression with which all deep emotions;
even though they bring the most grateful pleasure; shadow
the countenances of the ingenuous and thoughful。

And truly the scene was of a nature deeply to impress the
imagination of the beholder。  Towards the west; in which
direction the faces of the party were turned; the eye ranged
over an ocean of leaves; glorious and rich in the varied
and lively verdure of a generous vegetation; and shaded
by the luxuriant tints which belong to the forty…second
degree of latitude。  The elm wifh its graceful and weep…
ing top; the rich varieties of the maple; most of the noble
oaks of the American forest; with the broad…leaved linden
known in the parlance of the conutry as the basswood;
mingled their uppermost branches; forming one broad and
seemingly interminable carpet of foliage which stretched
away towards the setting sun; until it bounded the hori…
zon; by blending with the clouds; as the waves and the sky
meet at the base of the vault of heaven。  Here and there;
by some accident of the tempests; or by a caprice of nature;
a trifling opening among these giant members of the forest
permitted an inferior tree to struggle upward toward the
light; and to lift its modest head nearly to a level with
the surrounding surface of verdure。  Of this class were the
birch; a tree of some account in regions less favored; the
quivering aspen; various generous nut…woods; and divers
others which resembled the ignoble and vulgar; thrown by
circumstances into the presence of the stately and great。
Here and there; too; the tall straight trunk of the pine
pierced the vast field; rising high above it; like some grand
monument reared by art on a plain of leaves。

It was the vastness of the view; the nearly unbroken
surface of verdure; that contained the principle of grandeur。
The beauty was to be traced in the delicate tints; relieved
by graduations of light and shade; while the solemn repose
induced the feeling allied to awe。

〃Uncle;〃 said the wondering; but pleased girl; address…
ing her male companion; whose arm she rather touched
than leaned on; to steady her own light but firm footing;
〃this is like a view of the ocean you so much love!〃

〃So much for ignorance; and a girl's fancy; Magnet;〃 …
a term of affection the sailor often used in allusion to his
niece's personal attractions; 〃no one but a child would
think of likening this handful of leaves to a look at the
real Atlantic。  You might seize all these tree…tops to
Neptune's jacket; and they would make no more than a
nosegay for his bosom。〃

〃More fanciful than true; I think; uncle。  Look thither;
it must be miles on miles; and yet we see nothing but
leaves! what could one behold; if looking at the
ocean?〃

〃More!〃 returned the uncle; giving an impatient
gesture with the elbow the other touched; for his arms
were crossed; and the hands were thrust into the bosom of
a vest of red cloth; a fashion of the times;   〃more; Mag…
net! say; rather; what less?  Where are your combing seas;
your blue water; your rollers; your breakers; your whales;
or your waterspouts; and your endless motion; in this bit
of a forest; child?〃

〃And where are your tree…tops; your solemn silence;
your fragrant le
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