小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » A Texas Blue Bonnet » CHAPTER XIII CHRISTMAS BOXES AND OTHER MATTERS
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XIII CHRISTMAS BOXES AND OTHER MATTERS
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
The next morning Mr. Ashe left for New York. “I’ll be back in time to get that box off,” he promised; “you have your part all ready, Honey.”

Aunt Lucinda was going in town with the “Boston relatives.” “Everybody seems going somewhere, except you and me, Grandmother,” Blue Bonnet1 said, as she stood before the fire in the sitting-room2 on her return from the station. It was hard to settle down to the every day business of practising and so on.

“You will be riding this afternoon, dear,” Mrs. Clyde answered; and then Aunt Lucinda came down, ready for her trip.

She handed Blue Bonnet a little roll of crisp new bills. “For your Christmas shopping,” she explained. “I am not so unreasonable3, my dear, as to expect your present allowance to cover that.”

Blue Bonnet’s face brightened; “I have been rather wondering—” she admitted. “This will do a lot, won’t it, Grandmother?”

228 “Doesn’t that depend?” Mrs. Clyde asked, with a smile.

“And it won’t be a bit too soon to begin, will it?”

“Too soon!” Miss Lucinda repeated. “My dear, I began last Spring!”

“I don’t think I should like that,” Blue Bonnet commented; “I think the hurry at the end is half the fun.”

“There is generally a fair amount of that in spite of all one’s planning,” Grandmother observed.

The talk during the ride that afternoon was largely of the coming Christmas. It pleased Kitty, for the moment, to treat Blue Bonnet as a mere4 novice5 in the art of Christmas shopping.

The latter’s reminder6 that even in Texas there were such things as stores was coolly ignored.

“You must make a list before leaving home,” Kitty insisted, “putting down the names of all the persons you intend giving presents to, and opposite the name the gift you have decided7 upon.”

“After that—according to Kitty’s own methods,” Debby interrupted, “you must either leave the list at home, or lose it as quickly as possible.”

“And even if you don’t do that,” Ruth said, “just as likely as not you can’t find the thing you’ve decided on.”

“I’ll settle with you two later,” Kitty warned. “Listen, Blue Bonnet. As soon as you’ve bought229 your present you must wrap it up in tissue paper and tie it prettily8 with ribbon and label it—”

“Right there in the store!” Blue Bonnet protested. “How inconvenient9, Kitty!”

“To avoid confusion at the last,” Kitty finished, calmly.

“You wait till you’ve seen Kitty’s room day before Christmas!” Debby remarked.

“I’m making most of my presents,” Sarah said.

“I haven’t made up my mind,” Kitty flicked10 Black Pete lightly, “whether yours is an example to be followed, or shunned11, Sarah. I’d hate to feel lonesome—the way you must.”

Sarah shifted herself in the saddle; she still found riding more of a duty than a pleasure—which Kitty declared was her principal reason for keeping on with it. “Lonesome!” she repeated, wonderingly, “what do you mean?”

“You remember what the poet says—” Kitty’s gray eyes were most demure—“‘Be good and you’ll be lonesome’?”

“Then you’ve never been lonesome, Kitty Clark!” Susy remarked.

Sarah was looking puzzled; she took her English literature very seriously. “I don’t remember any poet saying—”

“Never you mind, Sarah mia,” Blue Bonnet laughed; she checked the mare’s pace, making her—much against her will—keep step with230 Sarah’s horse. “Tell me what you’re making for Christmas? I wish I could make something, too—but my stupid fingers are all thumbs, when it comes to sewing.”

Sarah responded cordially. “It would be nice for you to make something to send back in your box, Blue Bonnet; they’d like it, I’m sure.”

“Grandmother,” Blue Bonnet said, that evening, “can you crochet12?”

“I used to.”

“Shoulder shawls?”

“Those among other things.”

“Please—will you show me how? I want to make one for Benita. She’d love it.”

“Have you ever crocheted13, Blue Bonnet?”

“Never—Benita tried to teach me to knit once, but it wasn’t a success.”

“Then wouldn’t it be wiser to begin with something simpler?”

“But there won’t be time for two things—and I know Benita would like the shawl. I’ll get the wools to-morrow.”

“There is some worsted and a needle in the lower drawer of my work table. If you like, you shall have your first lesson now, dear.”

Coming down stairs again, Blue Bonnet met Delia in the hall. “A letter for you, miss; one of the parsonage children just brought it up; it’d been sent there.”

231 Blue Bonnet read the address, wonderingly—

“‘Blue Bonnet,’

“Care of the Rev14. Sam. Blake,

“Woodford, Mass.”

“Grandmother!” she exclaimed, “it must be from my ‘missionary-box’ girl!”

She opened the letter, with its Texas post-mark. “Shall I read it aloud, Grandmother?”

“I should like to hear it, dear.”

“I don’t know if Blue Bonnet is really your name,” the letter began, “but somehow, I can’t help hoping that it is. My name is Caroline Judson—but I am always called Carita; and I am writing to thank you for the lovely dress you sent me. Nothing like it ever came in any of our other boxes, and at first mother thought it must be a mistake, until we found your note and the purse in the pocket. And if you knew how I thank you for that, too!

“Now I can go Christmas shopping. I’m going to buy each of the boys a knife of his own—then they can all whittle15 at once. I wonder if you have any brothers? I have four—all younger than I am—but no sisters.

“I wonder a lot about you; I think, perhaps, you’ve gone East to school—that’s where father wants to send me—but that you love it out here in Texas best. I wish you would write to me—I never get any letters—and tell me how old you232 are, and what Woodford is like. Father says he is sure it has a public library—I wish we had one out here. Don’t you love to read, better than anything? I was fourteen last August and all the dress needed was to have a tuck taken in it, and that will make it all the longer getting too short for me. That’s a pretty mixed-up sentence, isn’t it? But you will know what I mean.

“Mother thinks I’d better stop writing now—as it is a first letter. It is so good to be writing to someone.

“Please believe me, very truly and gratefully,

“Yours,
“Carita Adeline Judson.”

“Grandmother!” Blue Bonnet folded up the letter, “Mayn’t I send Carita Adeline Judson a Christmas box?”

“If not a box—a Christmas remembrance, at least,” Grandmother answered.

“Please, a whole box! If you knew how jolly it was unpacking16 the ones you and Aunt Lucinda always sent! One can put all sorts of little things in a box—I’ll put in something for each of the boys—”

And during the lesson in crocheting17 which followed, Blue Bonnet planned enough boxes to have called for, Grandmother said, a whole car of their own.

233 She did not take readily to the lesson itself; but that was because she was thinking about something else, she explained.

“A good many ‘else’s,’ I am afraid,” Grandmother answered. “Better unravel18 that and start afresh.”

“It’s easier just to break it off,” Blue Bonnet suited the action to the word. “I wonder who invented crocheting! I think they might have found something better to do!”

“You are not discouraged already, Blue Bonnet!”

“Not ‘discouraged,’ Grandmother, but sort of—disgusted. I hope Benita properly appreciates her shawl. I wonder whether she would rather have a purple and crimson19, or red and yellow? It’ll have to be bright-colored, in any case.”

Mrs. Clyde glanced at the pink worsted chain Blue Bonnet was making; at present, it resembled a corkscrew more closely than anything else. “Isn’t it a bit soon to decide upon the color?”

“I always want to get things settled as soon as possible; besides, I shall feel as if it were really started, once I have bought the wools,” Blue Bonnet urged.

As soon as the regulation Saturday duties were through with the next morning, she was off to buy her wools. They occupied the place of honor on the clubroom table that afternoon.

234 The snow predicted by Denham, though a trifle behind schedule time, had arrived in good earnest; there could be no riding that afternoon.

“And a very good thing, too!” Ruth remarked. “Now we shall have to work.” And presently, forming a circle about the pile of purple and crimson wools, were six work-bags of various sizes and hues20.

There were other things on the table; Blue Bonnet’s pies, still intact, Mr. Ashe having deeded his share in them to the club; a dish of nuts and raisins21 and one of fruit.

“You must have ‘spent the hull22 ten-cent piece,’ Blue Bonnet!” Kitty said.

“We’re going to have a beautiful time this afternoon,” Blue Bonnet assured them. “Isn’t it the nicest storm?”

It beat against the windows in sudden fitful gusts23, the air was full of the white, whirling flakes24, and down in the garden were great, drifting heaps.

Susy looked at the white world without and then about the large, square room. “I always did want to belong to a club—and have a real clubroom,” she said contentedly25.

It had been a nursery in former years, as the window bars and the bright colored prints on the walls still testified. Now the center table, the wide lounge, generously supplied with the biggest and softest of cushions, the quaint26 medley27 of chairs,235 big and little, the low hassocks at either end of the broad hearth28, made it, in the eyes of club members, an ideal gathering-place. There was nothing breakable—in the ordinary sense—and there were no curtains at the four windows,—just shades that could be raised quite out of sight when necessary; and on club days, a bright fire burned in the deep fireplace, behind the tall wire screen.

“So you’ve got your work, Blue Bonnet!” Sarah said, taking up a skein of the purple wool. “Have you learnt the stitch?”

“I’m—learning it. Please—before you all begin, listen to this—” and she read them the letter received the night before.

“So that is what it was,” Sarah said. “How oddly she addressed it!”

“Do you suppose she would like to have the rest of us write to her?” Ruth asked.

“I’m sure of it!” Blue Bonnet cried, delightedly. “I mean to answer this right away—and I’m going to send her a Christmas box.”

“Oh,” Susy dropped the square of linen29 she was hemstitching, “let’s make it a ‘We are Seven’ box.”

“And all write a letter to put in it,” Amanda added.

“I do think you are the dearest girls!” Blue Bonnet exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Let’s plan now,” Ruth proposed.

236 “Not until Blue Bonnet gets at her work!” Sarah advised.

“Sarah’s working you a motto, Blue Bonnet,—” Kitty said, “‘How doth the little busy’—and so forth30, and so forth.”

“Kitty!” Sarah protested, “You know I am doing nothing of the kind.”

“Well, you can—now I’ve put the idea into your head.”

“The way I learned it was like this—” Blue Bonnet produced her ball of pink worsted and crochet needle rather reluctantly—
“‘How doth the busy little bee,
Delight to bark and bite;
And gather honey all the day,
To eat it up at night.’”

Sarah looked pained, but Kitty dropped her lace work to run around and hug Blue Bonnet. “That’s the best version I’ve heard yet.”

“I don’t approve of parodies,” Sarah remarked. “Are you going to make a pink shawl, Blue Bonnet?”

“Grandmother thought I had better practice my stitch a little before starting regularly to work,” Blue Bonnet answered.

Kitty’s brows arched expressively31. “And ‘Grandmother’ was quite right, my child! How did you get it shirred like that; is it a new stitch?”

237 “Why shouldn’t I shirr it, if I like it that way?” Blue Bonnet laid her work on the table, patting and pulling at it with impatient fingers.

“But you shouldn’t hold your finger out like that!” Sarah corrected presently. “You’ll get the habit.”

“No, I won’t!” Blue Bonnet declared; she looked from one busy worker to another. How nimble every pair of hands in the room, except hers, seemed.

“I—I hate crocheting!” she announced presently. “It makes me feel cross and as if I should go to pieces.”

“I like it,” Sarah looked down at the bed-shoe she was making. “Only I don’t get much time for it.”

Five minutes longer Blue Bonnet worked, then she pushed back her chair. “Fifteen minutes—and as many more as you like—for refreshments32. Sarah, will you please cut the pies?”

And after refreshments, with the dusk coming on, and Blue Bonnet firmly refusing to have the lights lit, there was nothing for it but to gather about the fire and talk.

“Now this is what I call a sensible way of spending one’s time!” Blue Bonnet threw on another log. “Let’s talk Christmas—remember, if you please, that this is the first time I’ve had a lot of girls to talk it with.”

238 She went with them to the door, when at last she could neither coax33 nor cajole them into remaining any longer, and from there on down to the gate—first catching34 up Aunt Lucinda’s garden cape35 from its nail.

All but Kitty were going home to what Blue Bonnet mentally designated “families,” and Kitty lived next door to Amanda and was almost as much at home in the Parker house as in her own.

It seemed to Blue Bonnet, as she stood there in the fast-falling snow, watching the six walk briskly off down the darkening street, Kitty and Debby stopping now and again to exchange snowballs with a passing friend, that of all seasons of the year, Christmas was the very nicest in which to be part of a large family.

She was turning to go in when she caught the sound of Alec’s whistle, and waited to speak to him. “Do come in,” she urged, “I feel—just like Mrs. Gummidge. I want someone to talk to who is—young, and can’t do things with his hands.”

“Thanks—awfully,” Alec said.

“Not tiresome36 crocheting sort of things—nor hemstitching—nor knitting double stitch—nor—”

“You needn’t go on enumerating37! I plead guilty to each separate charge. You come over instead—Grandfather’ll be no end delighted.”

239 “I’ll interview Grandmother,” Blue Bonnet started for the house. Halfway38 up the path, she turned and came back. “I can’t! I haven’t done my lessons for Monday. I kept thinking there was so much time—and I did mean to do some extra studying, too.”

“Can’t you—” Alec began.

Blue Bonnet put her fingers over her ears. “Run away! or I’ll come—and I mustn’t, truly.”

When Blue Bonnet came back to the sitting-room that evening, school-books strapped39 ready for carrying Monday morning, she found Miss Lucinda sorting embroidery41 silks at the table.

“Are you going to embroider40 something, Aunt Lucinda?” she asked. “Aren’t they pretty! Did you get them in Boston yesterday?”

“Which question shall I answer first?” Miss Lucinda asked, with the smile it was Blue Bonnet’s secret wonder she did not use oftener—it was so very becoming. “Some of them I had, some I got new. I am sending a little bundle of silks and one or two stamped patterns to each of the older girls in a home for cripples, in which I am interested.”

“You mean for Christmas?”

“Yes.”

Blue Bonnet was immensely interested, offering to help sort and asking any number of questions about the girls. “Couldn’t I go with you some240 time, Aunt Lucinda?” she asked. “I’ve never been to a place of that kind—and mayn’t I send them something, too?”

“I should be very glad to have you, Blue Bonnet.”

“What lots of things there are to do—in the world; and such a little time for the Christmas things,” Blue Bonnet said, thoughtfully.

“There is always a year between one Christmas and the next,” her aunt answered.

“But not between now and this coming Christmas. And those hateful exams sticking themselves in between. It ought to be against the law—having examinations at holiday time.” Blue Bonnet rumpled42 up her hair impatiently.

Her grandmother looked amused. “The school laws, as revised by Miss Elizabeth Blue Bonnet Ashe, should prove interesting reading.”

“But if I don’t pass—it’ll just spoil being a ‘We are Seven’!” Blue Bonnet insisted.

“Then—screw not only your courage but your attention to the sticking point, and you’ll not fail,” Miss Lucinda counselled.

“I don’t see how Sarah gets time for everything the way she does,” Blue Bonnet sighed. “She never seems to hurry.”

“It is generally the busiest people who have most time,” Grandmother said, forestalling43 Miss Lucinda.

“Alec says there have to be some idlers in the241 world to keep things balanced. Alec does say such comforting things.”

“More comforting than bracing44, I am afraid,” Miss Lucinda commented; “but in his case, there is some excuse, as he is really not strong.”

Blue Bonnet decided to go to bed. “We were getting on thin ice,” she confided45 to Solomon, who insisted on going upstairs for a final chat. “And it seemed a pity—after we’d been getting on so comfortably. Solomon, I’ve such an inspiration—got straight from Aunt Lucinda—I’ll send Benita the wool in the Christmas box—and let her make her own shawl!”

And when Kitty asked on Monday morning how the shawl was progressing, Blue Bonnet told her what she had told Solomon.

“So thoughtful of you, my dear!” Kitty observed. “But don’t forget to put in the sample too—as proof of how it ought not to be done.”

And for the rest of that recess46 there was a coolness between them.

For some reason—unexplained even to herself, Blue Bonnet had put off telling her grandmother of her change of plan. Perhaps Grandmother would speak of the shawl first. Grandmother did, that same evening.

“I—I’ve given up making it,” Blue Bonnet explained. “I—I don’t believe crocheting is my vocation47.”

242 “And have you discovered just what your vocation is?” her aunt asked.

Blue Bonnet shook her head. “Unless, not having one.”

“It is something to have found out what it is not,” Grandmother said. “I have known people who had not attained48 even to that point.”

Blue Bonnet pinched one of Solomon’s long ears; they were behaving beautifully—Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda.

And then Grandmother said, slowly, “All the same, Blue Bonnet—though I agree with you that there would hardly be time, under present circumstances, for you to get the shawl done, I do not at all approve of your taking things up and then dropping them as suddenly.”

Blue Bonnet looked into the fire; she had been afraid Grandmother would take it like that. Then she looked up, with eyes full of sudden mischief49. “Grandmother, dear, I give you my word of honor, that the next time I start in to make anyone a crocheted shawl I’ll finish it!”

And even Aunt Lucinda was obliged to smile.

Never days went by more quickly than those short December ones. And never, in Blue Bonnet’s experience, had days been half so full of business.

Two or three times a week came messages from Uncle Cliff, generally accompanied by packages for the box, or rather boxes. For Mr. Ashe had been243 promptly50 told of that second Christmas box, also destined51 for Texas, and had as promptly expressed his unqualified approval.

The two stood side by side on the table in the clubroom, and in one a big bundle of bright purple and crimson wools held no inconspicuous place.

There were shopping trips in town with Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda, and one made by the club in a body. Blue Bonnet declared she would never forget that shopping trip; Sarah inwardly registered the same vow52, though from different reasons.

There were innumerable impromptu53 meetings of the club at the house of one or another.

There were the daily walks, which, now that the riding was over, Grandmother firmly insisted on.

And in between times were snatches of extra studying, hasty reviews.

“And you’ve gone through with it all every year for ages and ages!” Blue Bonnet said one morning, looking from Sarah to Kitty in positive admiration54.

“Why don’t you put it centuries?” Kitty asked.

“Of course we have,” Sarah said, calmly. She expected to pass; she always had, though never brilliantly; and when she went to bed on Christmas Eve, though it might be late, it would be with the comfortable feeling that she had accomplished55 all she had set out to do.

244 “Alec’s cousin came last night!” Blue Bonnet announced with one of her sudden changes of subject.

“What’s he like?” Kitty asked.

“He isn’t like Alec. I daresay he’s—New Yorky. I don’t like him as well as I do Alec.”

“How can you tell so soon?” Sarah objected.

Blue Bonnet shrugged56. “Oh, because—and anyhow, even if I did, I wouldn’t.”

“Would you mind saying that over again?” Sarah looked bewildered.

“News!” Debby joined them. “The pond’s frozen over! You skate, Blue Bonnet?”

“Alec’s going to teach me. I’ve got news, too—Grandmother’s going to give me a Christmas party!”

There was a little chorus of excited approval.

“Well, Honey!” It seemed to Uncle Cliff as if he had been gone three months rather than nearly three weeks. “Box all ready?”

“Except a few last things, which we’re going to get together.” Blue Bonnet nestled closely to him, under the big buffalo57 robe. “Maybe I haven’t done some tall rustling58 lately! I haven’t a reputation ’round these parts for getting there before the train starts, but I’ve done it this time! And just wait till you see what I’ve got for Uncle Joe! Aunt Lucinda suggested it—when it comes to245 Christmasing, Aunt Lucinda’s a jim-dandy. And if Carita Adeline Judson doesn’t open her eyes!”

“Call a halt, Honey!” Mr. Ashe implored59, laughingly. “Looks like you were trying to keep time with those sleigh-bells!”

He was waiting for her when school closed the next afternoon, and together they caught the three-twenty for town. The boxes must go the next day without fail. They shopped until dinner time—Uncle Cliff’s vigorous methods making even Blue Bonnet feel rather dizzy—then dined in delightful60 holiday fashion at one of the big, gaily-lighted restaurants; where, what with the crowds, the music, and the excitement of it all, Blue Bonnet found it hard to eat anything.

Then back on the eight o’clock for the final fillings-in, at which not only the club en masse, but Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda were present.

At last the finishing spray of holly61 was laid on the top of each generously-stored box, the covers were nailed on by Mr. Ashe, the addresses marked.

Blue Bonnet drew a long breath—“We did get them done—in time!” She waltzed Debby up and down the room with its litter of paper and string, its ends of Christmas ribbons and soft-tinted cotton. “But this ‘we’ wouldn’t’ve, if it hadn’t’ve been for you all.”

“To-morrow they’ll be on their way, Solomon!”246 she assured him later; and later still, lying awake in her room, with the fire throwing flickering62 shadows over walls and ceiling, Blue Bonnet tried to picture to herself the unpacking of those boxes, in lonely ranch63 house, and, perhaps, almost as lonely parsonage.

Uncle Joe Terry’s delight when her laughing face looked up at him from its silver frame; and Carita’s joy on opening a certain envelope, in which was a printed certificate telling how for twelve long, happy months, that most welcome of all visitor, dear old Saint Nicholas, was to make his appearance at the Judson home.

“Aunt Lucinda suggested that, too,” Blue Bonnet said to herself, sleepily. Christmas was the dearest time in all the year,—she had always known that,—but this year she was finding out its wonderful possibilities more clearly every day.

Two or three days later those dreadful examinations began, and like a good many other things in this world, proved upon closer acquaintance not half so dreadful as they had seemed, viewed at long distance.

“I’m getting all the questions that I know,” Blue Bonnet rejoiced more than once; but for all her rejoicing, she walked softly those days.

“They’re over at last!” she told her uncle, coming home one afternoon.

“And now what next, Honey?”

247 “Sentence—and we won’t know until the last day of school!”

But when that all-important Friday arrived, Blue Bonnet came home jubilant.

“I’ve passed!” she announced to Solomon watching for her at the gate. Uncle Cliff was the next to hear the news; he was on the veranda64—walking up and down and thinking the afternoon unusually long. Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda heard it next; then Blue Bonnet carried the glad tidings out to the kitchen.

“And now,” she came back to the veranda, “now I’m ready for a good time. And Monday’ll be Christmas! And to-morrow—which’ll be like Christmas Eve—we’re going into town! I say, Uncle Cliff, what larks65!”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽;童帽
参考例句:
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光,使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽,帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
2 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
3 unreasonable tjLwm     
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的
参考例句:
  • I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
  • They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。
4 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
5 novice 1H4x1     
adj.新手的,生手的
参考例句:
  • As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人,我对此很感兴趣。
  • She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。
6 reminder WkzzTb     
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示
参考例句:
  • I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
  • It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 prettily xQAxh     
adv.优美地;可爱地
参考例句:
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back.此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。
  • She pouted prettily at him.她冲他撅着嘴,样子很可爱。
9 inconvenient m4hy5     
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的
参考例句:
  • You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
  • Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗?
10 flicked 7c535fef6da8b8c191b1d1548e9e790a     
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
参考例句:
  • She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
  • I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。
11 shunned bcd48f012d0befb1223f8e35a7516d0e     
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
  • He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人,总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 crochet qzExU     
n.钩针织物;v.用钩针编制
参考例句:
  • That's a black crochet waistcoat.那是一件用钩针编织的黑色马甲。
  • She offered to teach me to crochet rugs.她提出要教我钩织小地毯。
13 crocheted 62b18a9473c261d6b815602f16b0fb14     
v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Mom and I crocheted new quilts. 我和妈妈钩织了新床罩。 来自辞典例句
  • Aunt Paula crocheted a beautiful blanket for the baby. 宝拉婶婶为婴孩编织了一条美丽的毯子。 来自互联网
14 rev njvzwS     
v.发动机旋转,加快速度
参考例句:
  • It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
  • Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。
15 whittle 0oHyz     
v.削(木头),削减;n.屠刀
参考例句:
  • They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
  • He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。
16 unpacking 4cd1f3e1b7db9c6a932889b5839cdd25     
n.取出货物,拆包[箱]v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等)
参考例句:
  • Joe sat on the bed while Martin was unpacking. 马丁打开箱子取东西的时候,乔坐在床上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They are unpacking a trunk. 他们正在打开衣箱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 crocheting 7f0108207249d2f35ad1587617bc69e3     
v.用钩针编织( crochet的现在分词 );钩编
参考例句:
  • She sat there crocheting all day. 她整天坐在那里用钩针编织东西。 来自互联网
  • The crafts teacher is skillful in knitting,crocheting,embroidery,and the use of the hand loom. 手工艺教师善于纺织、钩编、刺绣和使用手摇织布机。 来自互联网
18 unravel Ajzwo     
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开
参考例句:
  • He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧,其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线,他都能解开。
  • This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。
19 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
20 hues adb36550095392fec301ed06c82f8920     
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点
参考例句:
  • When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出,更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
  • Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方,枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。
21 raisins f7a89b31fdf9255863139804963e88cf     
n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆,味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句
22 hull 8c8xO     
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳
参考例句:
  • The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
  • The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。
23 gusts 656c664e0ecfa47560efde859556ddfa     
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 ); (怒、笑等的)爆发; (感情的)迸发; 发作
参考例句:
  • Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。
  • Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。
24 flakes d80cf306deb4a89b84c9efdce8809c78     
小薄片( flake的名词复数 ); (尤指)碎片; 雪花; 古怪的人
参考例句:
  • It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
  • It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。
25 contentedly a0af12176ca79b27d4028fdbaf1b5f64     
adv.心满意足地
参考例句:
  • My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
  • "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.
26 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
27 medley vCfxg     
n.混合
参考例句:
  • Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
  • China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。
28 hearth n5by9     
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面
参考例句:
  • She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来,在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
  • She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里,打开电灯。
29 linen W3LyK     
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
参考例句:
  • The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
  • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
30 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
31 expressively 7tGz1k     
ad.表示(某事物)地;表达地
参考例句:
  • She gave the order to the waiter, using her hands very expressively. 她意味深长地用双手把订单递给了服务员。
  • Corleone gestured expressively, submissively, with his hands. "That is all I want." 说到这里,考利昂老头子激动而谦恭地表示:“这就是我的全部要求。” 来自教父部分
32 refreshments KkqzPc     
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待
参考例句:
  • We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。
  • Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。
33 coax Fqmz5     
v.哄诱,劝诱,用诱哄得到,诱取
参考例句:
  • I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
  • He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。
34 catching cwVztY     
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
参考例句:
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
35 cape ITEy6     
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风
参考例句:
  • I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
  • She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。
36 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
37 enumerating 5e395b32707b51ec56714161485900fd     
v.列举,枚举,数( enumerate的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • There is no enumerating the evils of dishonesty here. 欺诈的罪恶在这里难以(无法)一一列举。 来自互联网
  • What she used to be most adept at was enumerating. 从前,她最拿手的是数落。 来自互联网
38 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
39 strapped ec484d13545e19c0939d46e2d1eb24bc     
adj.用皮带捆住的,用皮带装饰的;身无分文的;缺钱;手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词);用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带
参考例句:
  • Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
40 embroider 9jtz7     
v.刺绣于(布)上;给…添枝加叶,润饰
参考例句:
  • The editor would take a theme and embroider upon it with drollery.编辑会将一篇文章,以调侃式的幽默笔调加以渲染。
  • She wants to embroider a coverlet with flowers and birds.她想给床罩绣上花鸟。
41 embroidery Wjkz7     
n.绣花,刺绣;绣制品
参考例句:
  • This exquisite embroidery won people's great admiration.这件精美的绣品,使人惊叹不已。
  • This is Jane's first attempt at embroidery.这是简第一次试着绣花。
42 rumpled 86d497fd85370afd8a55db59ea16ef4a     
v.弄皱,使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She rumpled his hair playfully. 她顽皮地弄乱他的头发。
  • The bed was rumpled and strewn with phonograph records. 那张床上凌乱不堪,散放着一些唱片。 来自辞典例句
43 forestalling d45327a760f7199d057caaf0ab24c9d3     
v.先发制人,预先阻止( forestall的现在分词 )
参考例句:
44 bracing oxQzcw     
adj.令人振奋的
参考例句:
  • The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
  • The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。
45 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
46 recess pAxzC     
n.短期休息,壁凹(墙上装架子,柜子等凹处)
参考例句:
  • The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
  • Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。
47 vocation 8h6wB     
n.职业,行业
参考例句:
  • She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
  • She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。
48 attained 1f2c1bee274e81555decf78fe9b16b2f     
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况)
参考例句:
  • She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
  • Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。
49 mischief jDgxH     
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹
参考例句:
  • Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
  • He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。
50 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
51 destined Dunznz     
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句:
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
52 vow 0h9wL     
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓
参考例句:
  • My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿,每星期日都去做礼拜。
  • I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。
53 impromptu j4Myg     
adj.即席的,即兴的;adv.即兴的(地),无准备的(地)
参考例句:
  • The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
  • The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。
54 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
55 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
56 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
57 buffalo 1Sby4     
n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛
参考例句:
  • Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
  • The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。
58 rustling c6f5c8086fbaf68296f60e8adb292798     
n. 瑟瑟声,沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的
参考例句:
  • the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
  • the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声
59 implored 0b089ebf3591e554caa381773b194ff1     
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
  • She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。
60 delightful 6xzxT     
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
参考例句:
  • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
  • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
61 holly hrdzTt     
n.[植]冬青属灌木
参考例句:
  • I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
  • People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。
62 flickering wjLxa     
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的
参考例句:
  • The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
  • The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。
63 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
64 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
65 larks 05e5fd42fbbb0fa8ae0d9a20b6f3efe1     
n.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的名词复数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了v.百灵科鸟(尤指云雀)( lark的第三人称单数 );一大早就起床;鸡鸣即起;(因太费力而不想干时说)算了
参考例句:
  • Maybe if she heard the larks sing she'd write. 玛丽听到云雀的歌声也许会写信的。 来自名作英译部分
  • But sure there are no larks in big cities. 可大城市里哪有云雀呢。” 来自名作英译部分


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533