【英文原著类】THE STORY OF MY HEART AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY(我的心的故事).pdf

THE STORY OF MY HEART AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
THE STORY OF MY
HEART AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
by RICHARD JEFFERIES
1
THE STORY OF MY HEART AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER I
THE story of my mences seventeen years ago. In the glow
of youth there were times every now and then when I felt the necessity of
a strong inspiration of soulthought. My heart was dusty, parched for
want of the rain of deep feeling; my mind arid and dry, for there is a dust
which settles on the heart as well as that which falls on a ledge. It is
injurious to the mind as well as to the body to be always in one place and
always surrounded by the same circumstances. A species of thick clothing
slowly grows about the mind, the pores are choked, little habits e a
part of existence, and by degrees the mind is inclosed in a husk. When this
began to form I felt eager to escape from it, to throw off the heavy
clothing, to drink deeply once more at the fresh fountations of life. An
inspiration--a long deep breath of the pure air of thought--could alone give
health to the heart.
There is a hill to which I used to resort at such periods. The labour of
walking three miles to it, all the while gradually ascending, seemed to
clear my blood of the heaviness accumulated at home. On a warm summer
day the slow continued rise required continual effort, which caried away
the sense of oppression. The familiar everyday scene was soon out of sight;
I came to other trees, meadows, and fields; I began to breathe a new air
and to have a fresher aspirationn. I restrained my soul till reached the
sward of the hill; psyche, the soul that longed to be loose. I would write
psyche always instead of soul to avoid meanings which have e
attached to the word soul, but it is awkward to do so. Clumsy inddeed are
all words the moment the wooden stage monplace life is left. I
restrained psyche, my soul, till I reached and put my foot on the grass at
the beginning of the green hill itself. Moving up the sweet short turf,