“Tie a rope round him; it is dangerous!”
Arthur Hopkins
6.375 by 4.3125 inches, framed
Hardy's The Return of the Native
Belgravia XXXV (June 1878), to face p. 492
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Passage Illustrated: Clym Unexpectedly Takes Charge
Half a dozen able-bodied men were standing in a line from the well-mouth, holding a rope which passed over the well-roller into the depths below. Fairway, with a piece of smaller rope round his body, made fast to one of the standards, to guard against accidents, was leaning over the opening, his right hand clasping the vertical rope that descended into the well.
“Now, silence, folks,” said Fairway.
The talking ceased, and Fairway gave a circular motion to the rope, as if he were stirring batter. At the end of a minute a dull splashing reverberated from the bottom of the well; the helical twist he had imparted to the rope had reached the grapnel below.
“Haul!” said Fairway; and the men who held the rope began to gather it over the wheel.
“I think we’ve got sommat,” said one of the haulers-in.
“Then pull steady,” said Fairway.
They gathered up more and more, till a regular dripping into the well could be heard below. It grew smarter with the increasing height of the bucket, and presently a hundred and fifty feet of rope had been pulled in.
Fairway then lit a lantern, tied it to another cord, and began lowering it into the well beside the first: Clym came forward and looked down. Strange humid leaves, which knew nothing of the seasons of the year, and quaint-natured mosses were revealed on the wellside as the lantern descended; till its rays fell upon a confused mass of rope and bucket dangling in the dank, dark air.
“We’ve only got en by the edge of the hoop — steady, for God’s sake!” said Fairway.
They pulled with the greatest gentleness, till the wet bucket appeared about two yards below them, like a dead friend come to earth again. Three or four hands were stretched out, then jerk went the rope, whizz went the wheel, the two foremost haulers fell backward, the beating of a falling body was heard, receding down the sides of the well, and a thunderous uproar arose at the bottom. The bucket was gone again.
“Damn the bucket!” said Fairway.
“Lower again,” said Sam.
“I’m as stiff as a ram’s horn stooping so long,” said Fairway, standing up and stretching himself till his joints creaked.
“Rest a few minutes, Timothy,” said Yeobright. “I’ll take your place.”
The grapnel was again lowered. Its smart impact upon the distant water reached their ears like a kiss, whereupon Yeobright knelt down, and leaning over the well began dragging the grapnel round and round as Fairway had done.
“Tie a rope round him — it is dangerous!” cried a soft and anxious voice somewhere above them.
Everybody turned. The speaker was a woman, gazing down upon the group from an upper window, whose panes blazed in the ruddy glare from the west. Her lips were parted and she appeared for the moment to forget where she was. [Book III, "The Fascination," Chapter III, “The First Act in a Timeworn Drama,” pp. 492-493]
Commentary: The Motivation behind Clymn's Offering to Assist in Retrieving the Bucket
“I’ll tell you how you mid see her, Mr. Yeobright,” said Sam. “We are going to grapple for the bucket at six o’clock tonight at her house, and you could lend a hand. There’s five or six coming, but the well is deep, and another might be useful, if you don’t mind appearing in that shape. She’s sure to be walking round.”
“I’ll think of it,” said Yeobright; and they parted.
He thought of it a good deal; but nothing more was said about Eustacia inside the house at that time. Whether this romantic martyr to superstition and the melancholy mummer he had conversed with under the full moon were one and the same person remained as yet a problem. [Book III, Chapter II, "The New Course Causes Disappointment," pp. 490-491]
The June illustration, capturing a desperate situation in the midst of the action, immediately engages the serial reader's attention. Very quickly, the rescuing of the lost water-bucket from Captain Vye's well becomes a serious matter for Sam and the other neighbours who have attempted the retrieval. The moment captured in the illustration marks both a critical incident and the initial meeting of Clym Yeobright, right of centre (whose assistance Sam, has requested), and the enigmatic Eustacia Vye, at the window above the scene at the well that early evening in winter — the time of day and seriousness of the situation suggested by the plate's dark hues and Baroque shadows.Related Material
Bibliography
Hardy, Thomas. The Return of the Native. Illustrated by Arthur Hopkins. Part Six: Book Three, "The Fascination," Chapter III, "The First Act in a Timeworn Drama." The Return of the Native. Belgravia, A Magazine of Fashion and Amusement (London) Vol. XXXV (June 1878). 491-493.
Jackson, Arlene M. Illustration and the Novels of Thomas Hardy. Towtowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1981.
Purdy, Richard Little, and Millgate, Michael, eds. The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy . Oxford: Clarendon, 1978. Vol. 1 (1840-1892).
Vann, J. Don. “Part Six. Book III, "The Fascination," Chapters 1-4. June 1878. The Return of the Native in Belgravia, January-December 1878.” Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. 84.
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Created 5 December 2000
Last modified 10 June 2025