"The millsof God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small, " he said, somewhatimpressively.Mrs. Stricklandand Mrs. Ronaldson looked down with a slightly pious expression whichindicated, I felt sure, that they thought the quotation was from Holy Writ.Indeed, I was unconvinced that Robert Strickland did not share their illusion.I do not know why I suddenly thought of Strickland's son by Ata. They had toldme he was a merry, light-hearted youth. I saw him, with my mind's eye, on theschooner on which he worked, wearing nothing but a pair of dungarees; and atnight, when the boat sailed along easily before a light breeze, and the sailorswere gathered on the upper deck, while the captain and the supercargo lolled indeck-chairs, smoking their pipes, I saw him dance with another lad, dancewildly, to the wheezy music of the concertina. Above was the blue sky, and thestars, and all about the desert of the Pacific Ocean.A quotationfrom the Bible came to my lips, but I held my tongue, for I know that clergymenthink it a little blasphemous when the laity poach upon their preserves. MyUncle Henry, for twenty-seven years Vicar of Whitstable, was on these occasionsin the habit of saying that the devil could always quote scripture to hispurpose. He remembered the days when you could get thirteen Royal Natives for ashilling. “上帝的磨盘转动很慢，但是却磨得很细，”罗伯特说，颇有些道貌岸然的样子。思特里克兰德太太和朵纳尔德逊太太满腹虔诚地低下头来。我一点儿也不怀疑，这母女两人所以表现得这么虔诚是因为她们都认为罗伯特刚才是从《圣经》上引证了一句话①。说实在的，就连罗伯特本人是否绝对无此错觉，我也不敢肯定。不知为什么，我突然想到爱塔给思特里克兰德生的那个孩子。听别人说，这是个活泼、开朗、快快活活的小伙子。在想象中，我仿佛看见一艘双桅大帆船，这个年轻人正在船上干活儿，他浑身赤裸，只在腰间围着一块粗蓝布；天黑了，船儿被清风吹动着，轻快地在海面上滑行，水手们都聚集在上层甲板上，船长和一个管货的人员坐在帆布椅上自由自在地抽着烟斗。思特里克兰德的孩子同另一个小伙子跳起舞来，在暗哑的手风琴声中，他们疯狂地跳着。头顶上是一片碧空，群星熠熠，太平洋烟波淼茫，浩瀚无垠。①罗伯特所说“上帝的磨盘”一语，许多外国诗人学者都曾讲过。美国诗人朗费罗也写过类似诗句，并非出自《圣经》。《圣经》上的另一句话也到了我的唇边，但是我却控制着自己，没有说出来，因为我知道牧师不喜欢俗人侵犯他们的领域，他们认为这是有渎神明的。我的亨利叔叔在威特斯台柏尔教区做了二十七年牧师，遇到这种机会就会说：魔鬼要干坏事总可以引证《圣经》。他一直忘不了一个先令就可以买十三只大牡蛎的日子。