The Life I Pursued

That must be the story of innumerable couples, and the pattern of life it offers has a homely¹ grace. It reminds you of a placid²（平静的，温和的） rivulet³（小溪，小河） , meandering⁴（漫步） smoothly⁵ through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees, till at last it falls into the vastly sea; but the sea is so calm, so silent, so indifferent, that you are troubled suddenly by a vague（模糊的） uneasiness（不安，担忧） .

Perhaps it is only by a kink（扭结，奇想） in my nature, strong in me even in those days, that I felt in such an existence, the share of the great majority, something amiss（有毛病的，有缺陷的） . I recognized its social value. I saw its ordered happiness, but a fever in my blood asked for a wilder course.

There seemed to me something alarming in such easy delights. In my heart was desire to live more dangerously. I was not unprepared for jagged（锯齿状的） rocks and treacherous⁶（奸诈的，叛逆的） , shoals（浅滩，沙洲） it I could only have change-change and the excitement of unforeseen.