Three flights up, a gaunt woman with bare forearms stayed on her way to listen at a door which, opened, let out a warm, fetid waft4 from a close sick-room. A bent5 and tottering6 old woman stood on the threshold, holding the door behind her.
“An’ is ‘e no better now, Mrs. Curtis?” the gaunt woman asked, with a nod at the opening.
The old woman shook her head, and pulled the door closer. Her jaw7 waggled loosely in her withered8 chaps: “Nor won’t be, till ‘e’s gone.” Then after a certain pause: “‘E’s goin’,” she said.
“Don’t doctor give no ‘ope?”
“Lor’ bless ye, I don’t want to ast no doctors,” Mrs. Curtis replied, with something not unlike a chuckle9. “I’ve seed too many on ’em. The boy’s a-goin’ fast; I can see that. An’ then”— she gave the handle another tug10, and whispered —“he’s been called.” She nodded again. “Three seprit knocks at the bed-head lasnight; an’ I know what that means!”
The gaunt woman raised her brows, and nodded. “Ah, well,” she said, “we all on us comes to it some day, sooner or later. An’ it’s often a ‘appy release.”
The two looked into space beyond each other, the elder with a nod and a croak11. Presently the other pursued: “‘E’s been a very good son, ain’t he?”
“Ay, ay — well enough son to me,” responded the old woman, a little peevishly12; “an’ I’ll ‘ave ’im put away decent, though there’s on’y the union for me after. I can do that, thank Gawd!” she added, meditatively13, as, chin on fist, she stared into the thickening dark over the stairs.
“When I lost my pore ‘usband,” said the gaunt woman, with a certain brightening, “I give ’im a ‘andsome funeral. ‘E was a Odd Feller, an’ I got twelve pound. I ‘ad a oak caufin an’ a open ‘earse. There was kerridge for the fam’ly an’ one for ‘is mates — two ‘orses each, an’ feathers, an’ mutes; an’ it went the furthest way round to the cimitry. ‘Wotever ‘appens, Mrs. Manders,’ says the undertaker, ‘you’ll feel as you’re treated ’im proper; nobody can’t reproach you over that.’ An’ they couldn’t. ‘E was a good ‘usband to me, an’ I buried ’im respectable.”
The gaunt woman exulted14. The old, old story of Mander’s funeral fell upon the other one’s ears with a freshened interest, and she mumbled15 her gums ruminantly. “Bob’ll ‘ave a ‘ansome buryin’ too,” she said. “I can make it up, with the insurance money, an’ this, an’ that. On’y I dunno about mutes. It’s a expense.”
In the East End, when a woman has not enough money to buy a thing much desired, she does not say so in plain words; she says the thing is an “expense,” or a “great expense.” It means the same thing, but it sounds better. Mrs. Curtis had reckoned her resources, and found that mutes would be an “expense.” At a cheap funeral mutes cost half a sovereign and their liquor. Mrs. Manders said as much.
“Yus, yus, ‘arf a sovereign,” the old woman assented16. Within, the sick man feebly beat the floor with a stick. “I’m a-comin’,” she cried, shrilly17; “yus, ‘arf a sovereign, but it’s a lot, an’ I don’t see ‘ow I’m to do it — not at present.” She reached for the door-handle again, but stopped and added, by after-thought: “Unless I don’t ‘ave no plooms.”
“It ‘ud be a pity not to ‘ave plooms. I ‘ad —”
There were footsteps on the stairs; then a stumble and a testy18 word. Mrs. Curtis peered over into the gathering19 dark. “Is it the doctor, sir?” she asked. It was the doctor’s assistant; and Mrs. Manders tramped up to the next landing as the door of the sick-room took him in.
For five minutes the stairs were darker than ever. Then the assistant, a very young man, came out again, followed by the old woman with a candle. Mrs. Manders listened in the upper dark. “He’s sinking fast,” said the assistant. “He must have a stimulant20. Doctor Mansell ordered port wine. Where is it?” Mrs. Curtis mumbled dolorously21. “I tell you he must have it,” he averred22 with unprofessional emphasis (his qualification was only a month old). “The man can’t take solid food, and his strength must be kept up somehow. Another day may make all the difference. It is because you can’t afford it?”
“It’s a expense — sich a expense, doctor,” the old woman pleaded. “An’ wot with ‘arf-pints o’ milk an’—” She grew inarticulate, and mumbled dismally23.
“But he must have it, Mrs. Curtis, if it’s your last shilling; it’s the only way. If you mean you absolutely haven’t the money —” And he paused a little awkwardly. He was not a wealthy young man — wealthy young men do not devil for East End doctors — but he was conscious of a certain haul of sixpences at nap the night before; and, being inexperienced, he did not foresee the career of persecution24 whereon he was entering at his own expense and of his own motion. He produced five shillings: “If you absolutely haven’t the money, why — take this and get a bottle — good. Not at a public-house. But mind, at once. He should have had it before.”
It would have interested him, as a matter of coincidence, to know that his principal had been guilty of the self-same indiscretion — even the amount was identical — on that landing the day before. But, as Mrs. Curtis said nothing of this, he floundered down the stair and out into the wetter mud, pondering whether or not the beloved son of a Congregational minister might take full credit for a deed of charity on the proceeds of sixpenny nap. But Mrs. Curtis puffed25 her wrinkles, and shook her head sagaciously as she carried in her candle. From the room came a clink as of money falling into a teapot. And Mrs. Manders went about her business.
The door was shut, and the stair a pit of blackness. Twice a lodger26 passed down, and up and down, and still it did not open. Men and women walked on the lower flights, and out at the door, and in again. From the street a shout or a snatch of laughter floated up the pit. On the pavement footsteps rang crisper and fewer, and from the bottom passage there were sounds of stagger and sprawl27. A demented old clock buzzed divers28 hours at random29, and was rebuked30 every twenty minutes by the regular tread of a policeman on his beat. Finally, somebody shut the street-door with a great bang, and the street was muffled31. A key turned inside the door on the landing, but that was all. A feeble light shone for hours along the crack below, and then went out. The crazy old clock went buzzing on, but nothing left that room all night. Nothing that opened the door . . .
When next the key turned, it was to Mrs. Manders’s knock, in the full morning; and soon the two women came out on the landing together, Mrs. Curtis with a shapeless clump32 of bonnet33. “Ah, ‘e’s a lovely corpse,” said Mrs. Manders. “Like wax. So was my ‘usband.”
“I must be stirrin’,” croaked34 the old woman, “an’ go about the insurance an’ the measurin’ an’ that. There’s lot to do.”
“Ah, there is. ‘Oo are you goin’ to ‘ave — Wilkins? I ‘ad Wilkins. Better than Kedge, I think; Kedge’s mutes dresses rusty35, an’ their trousis is frayed36. If you was thinkin’ of ‘avin’ mutes —”
“Yus, yus”— with a palsied nodding —“I’m a-goin’ to ‘ave mutes; I can do it respectable, thank Gawd!”
“And the plooms?”
“Ay, yus, and the plooms too. They ain’t sich a great expense, after all.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
prospering
|
|
| 成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
treacherous
|
|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
lurked
|
|
| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
waft
|
|
| v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
tottering
|
|
| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
chuckle
|
|
| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
tug
|
|
| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
croak
|
|
| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
peevishly
|
|
| adv．暴躁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
meditatively
|
|
| adv.冥想地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
exulted
|
|
| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
assented
|
|
| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
shrilly
|
|
| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
testy
|
|
| adj.易怒的；暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
stimulant
|
|
| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
dolorously
|
|
| adj. 悲伤的；痛苦的；悲哀的；阴沉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
averred
|
|
| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dismally
|
|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
persecution
|
|
| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
puffed
|
|
| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
lodger
|
|
| n.寄宿人，房客 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sprawl
|
|
| vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
divers
|
|
| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
random
|
|
| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
rebuked
|
|
| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
clump
|
|
| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
bonnet
|
|
| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
croaked
|
|
| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rusty
|
|
| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
frayed
|
|
| adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |