When the girls opened the door and saw Bell’s preparations,—the cozy5 sitting-room6, with dining-table in the bay-window, three sofas in a row, so that on snowy days they might extend their lazy lengths thereon, and finally a fir-covered barrel of Nodhead and Baldwin apples in one corner,—there arose bursts of happy laughter and ecstatic cheers loud enough to shock the neighbors, who seldom laughed and never cheered.
“I know it’s an original idea to have an apple-barrel in your parlor7 corner,” said Bell; “but the common-sense of it will be seen by every thoughtful mind. Our forces will consume a peck a day, and life is too short to spend it in galloping8 up and down cellar constantly for apples.”
“Bell Winship, you are an inhospitable creature,” exclaimed Lilia Porter. “Here I am, calmly seated on a coal-hod with my hat on, while you are talking so fast that you can’t get time to show us our apartments. Shelter before food, say I!”
“Apartments!” sniffed9 Bell, in mock dudgeon. “You are very grand in your ideas! Behold10 your camp, your wigwam, your tent, your quarters!” and she threw open the door of the large chamber11 and waved the party dramatically in that direction.
“Bell, you will yet be Presidentess of these United States,” cried Edith Lambert. “Any girl who can devise two such happy combinations as an apple-barrel in a parlor corner and three beds in a row, ought to be given a chair of state.”
“Might a poor worm inquire, Bell,” asked Patty, “why those croquet mallets and balls are laid out in file round the beds?”
“Why, those are for protection, you goose, supposing anybody should come in the piazza12 window at night, and we had nothing to kill him with!”
“Yes, and supposing he should take one of the mallets and pound us all to a jelly to begin with?” Patty retorted, being of a practical mind.
“That would be rather embarrassing,” answered Bell, with a reflective shudder13; “I hadn’t thought of it.”
“What could one poor man do against five girls banging him with croquet mallets, while the sixth was running to alarm the neighbors?” asked Alice, “and to put an end to the discussion I suggest that the cooks start supper;” whereupon she threw herself into an arm-chair, and put up a pair of small, stout14 boots on the fender.
The unfortunate couple referred to exchanged looks of unmitigated discouragement.
“I have my opinion of a girl who will mention supper before she has been in the house an hour,” said the head cook.
“Josie, I foresee that they are going to make galley-slaves of us if they can. However,” turning again to Alice, “it isn’t to be supper, but dinner. The meals at this house are to be thus and so: Breakfast at 9 a.m., luncheon15 at 12 m., dinner at 5 p.m., refreshments16 at various times betwixt and between, and all affairs pertaining17 to eatables are to be completely under the control of the chefs, Mesdemoiselles Winship and Fenton. We cannot have you ‘suggesting’ dinner at all hours, Miss Forsaith. If time hangs heavy on your hands, occupy it in your own branches of housework.”
“If we are to be ruled over in this way, life will not be worth living,” cried Patty Weld, in comical despair. “I dare say we shall be half starved as the days go on, but do give us something good to begin on, Bluebell18!”
Judging from the scene at the table an hour later, it would not have made much difference whether the repast was sumptuous19 or not, so formidable were the appetites, and such the merriment.
“Oh, dear,” sighed Bell, dismally20, to the assistant cook, “I will throw off all disguise and say that this family is a surprise and a disappointment to me. When a person cooks twenty-seven potatoes, with the reasonable expectation of having half left to fry, and sees a solitary21 one left in the dish, with all its lovely companions both faded and gone, she is naturally disheartened. Any way, we have finished for to-night, so the Dish Brigade can marshal its forces. We will take our one potato into the kitchen, Jo, and see if we can make it enough for breakfast. Look in the corner bookcase; bring Mrs. Whitney’s ‘Just How,’ Marion Harland’s ‘Cook Book,’ ‘The Young Housekeeper’s Friend,’ and ‘The Bride’s Manual.’”
At nine o’clock that evening Uncle Harry22 passed through the garden, and noticing a pair of open shutters23, peeped in at the back window of the sitting-room, thinking he had never seen a more charming or attractive picture. Pretty Edith Lambert was curled up in an armchair near the astral lamp, her face resting on her two rosy palms, and her eyes bent24 over “Little Women.” Bluebell, her bright hair bobbed in a funny sort of twist, from which two or three venturesome and rebellious25 curls were straying out, and her high-necked blue apron26 still on over her dark dress, was humming soft little songs at the piano. Roguish Jo was sitting flat on the hearth27, her bright cheeks flushed rosier28 under the warm occupation of corn popping, and her dark hair falling loosely round her face, while Patty Weld with her shy, demure29 face, was beside her on a hassock, knitting a “fascinator” out of white wool. These two, so thoroughly30 unlike, were never to be seen apart; indeed, they were so inseparable as to be dubbed31 the “Scissors” or “Tongs” by their friends. Alice and Lilia were quarreling briskly over a game of cribbage, Lilia’s animated32 expression and ringing laugh contrasting forcibly with the calm face of her antagonist33. Alice was never known to be excited over anything. It was she who carried off all the dignity and took the part of presiding goddess of the party. The girls all adored her for her beauty and superior age; for she had attained34 the enviable pinnacle35 of “sweet sixteen.”
“Come,” said Jo, breaking the silence, “let us have refreshments, then a good quiet talk together, then muster36 the Hair-Brushing Brigade, and go to bed. I think I have corn enough; I’ve popped and popped and popped as no one ever popped before, and till popping has ceased to be fun.”
“Pop on, pop ever; the more you give us, Jo, the more popular you’ll be,” laughed Bell.
“She is a veritable ‘pop-in-J,’ isn’t she?” cried Lilia.
“Now Lilia,” said Edith, “let us get the apples and nuts, and we’ll sit in a ring on the floor, and eat. I shan’t crack the almonds; the girl that hath her teeth, I say, is no girl, if with her teeth she cannot crack an almond. Lilia, you’re not a bit of assistance; you’ve tied up the end of the nut-bag in a hard knot, upset the apple-dish, put the tablecloth37 on crooked38, and—oh, dear—now you’ve stepped in the pop-corn,” as Lilia, trying desperately39 to cross the room without knocking something over, as usual, had hit the corn-pan in her airy flight. “You have such a genius for stepping into half-a-dozen things at once, I think you must be web-footed.”
“Well, that’s possible,” retorted the unfortunate Lilia; “I’ve often been told I was a duck of a girl, and this proves it.”
“Do you realize, girls,” said Edith, after a while, “that we shall all be visited by ghosts and visions to-night, if we don’t terminate this repast? I’ll put away the dishes, Bell, if you’ll move the sofas up to the fire, so that we can have our good-night chat.”
So, speedily, six warm dressing-sacques were slipped on, and then, the lamps being turned out, in the ruddy glow of the firelight, the brown, the yellow, and the dark hair was taken down, and the housekeepers40, braiding it up for the night, talked and dreamed and built their castles in the air, as all young things are wont41 to do.
“Girls, dear old girls,” said Alice, softly, breaking an unusual silence of two minutes; “isn’t this cosy42 and sweet and friendly beyond anything? How thankful we ought to be for the happy lives God gives us! We have been put into this beautiful world and taken care of so wisely and kindly43 every day; yet we don’t often speak, or even think, about it.”
“It is trouble, sometimes, more than happiness, that leads us into thinking about God’s care and goodness,” said Edith, “although it’s very strange that it should. Before my mother’s death I was just a little baby playing with letter-blocks, and all at once, after that, I began to make the letters into words and spell out things for myself.”
“What a perfect heathen I am,” burst out Jo. “I can’t feel any of these things any more than if I were a Chinaman. Or, perhaps, it is as Edith says, I am still playing with blocks, although I cannot even see the letters on them. I wonder if I shall ever be wide awake enough for that!”
“Look out of the window, Jo,” said
Bell, who was leaning on the sill. “Don’t you think if God can make out of all that snow and ice, in three short months, a lovely, tender, green, springing world, He can make something out of us! Isn’t it a wonderful thing that He can wake up the life that’s asleep under the frozen earth?”
“Well,” rejoined Jo, dismally, “there’s something to begin on out there, but I don’t think I have much of a soul; any way, I have never seen any signs of it. You always say things so prettily44, Bell, that I like to hear you sermonize. You’d make a good minister’s wife.”
“I think you have plenty of ‘soul material,’ Jo,” said Lilia, confusedly struggling to make a figure of speech express her meaning. “There’s lots of it there, only it wants to be blown up, somehow.”
“Thanks for your encouragement,” said Jo, amid the laughter that followed Lilia’s peculiar45 metaphor46. “I think if you’ll try to handle the spiritual bellows47, you’ll find it’s harder work than you imagine. Now don’t laugh, girls, because I really do feel solemn about it, only I talk in my usual frivolous48 way.”
“You always make yourself appear wicked, Jo,” said her loving champion, Patty, “but I happen to know a few facts on the opposite side. Who was it who gave every cent of her month’s allowance to Mrs. Hart, the poor washerwoman who scorched49 her white skirt; and who stayed away from the church sociable50 to take care of that horrid51 room mate of hers who had a headache?”
“Patty, if you don’t desist,” cried Jo, with a flaming face, and brandishing52 a hair-brush fiercely, “I’ll throw this at your dear, charitable little head. Now, Bell, you know we all agreed to tell a story of adventure each night before going to bed, and I think you, as hostess, ought to begin. If the entertainment is delayed much longer it will find me asleep with fatigue53 and over-feeding in the front row of the orchestra.”
“Dear me, I can’t begin!” cried Bell, “Nothing ever happened to me except going to California and having a double wedding in the family. That’s the sum total of my adventures.”
“Make up something then, or tell us a true story about California. Oh, you do have such a good time, and funny things are always happening to you,” sighed Lilia. “You never seem to have any trials.”
“Trials!” rejoined Bell, sarcastically54. “I should think I hadn’t. Perhaps I haven’t a little scamp of a brother and an awfully55 fussy56 old aunty! Perhaps I’m not such an idiot that I can’t multiply eight and nine, or seven and six, without a lead-pencil; perhaps I wasn’t left at school while my parents toured in the South! Don’t you call those afflictions?”
“Yes, I do,” answered Lilia, joining in the general laugh; “and I’ll never allude57 to your good fortune again. Now tell us a California story,—that’s a dear,—for I’m getting sleepy as well as Jo.”
“Oh, well,” said Bell, walking about the room absent-mindedly, until her eyes rested on the cabinet, “I’ll tell you the story of these;” and she took up a string of dusty pearls which were seamed and cracked as if by fire. “Now open your eyes and lend me your ears, for I shall make it as ‘bookish’ and romantic as possible.
“Last summer Mother and I were living in a beautiful valley a hundred miles from San Francisco. It was near the mining districts, where Father was attending to some business. Of course, a great many Mexicans and Indians, as well as Chinamen, worked in these mines, and we used to see them very often. Mother and I were sitting under the peach-trees in the garden one afternoon. It was so beautiful sewing or reading in that California garden, for the fruit was ripe and hanging in bushels on the trees, as lovely to look at as it was luscious58 to eat; some of the peaches were a rich yellow inside and others snow-white, except where the crimson59 stones had tinged60 their sockets61 with rosy little spots.”
“Don’t,” cried Jo; “you’ll make us discontented with our New England apples!”
“We were chatting and eating peaches,” continued Bell, “when the gate opened, and an Indian girl with an old squaw came in and approached us, The girl could speak English, and told me her name was Eskaluna. I had heard about her, and knew that she was the beauty and belle62 of the tribe, and was going to marry the chief’s son when the next moon came; for our Indian cook was as gossipy as a Yankee, and was forever telling us tales. She was the most beautiful creature I ever saw: lovely black hair, not so coarse as is usual with them, brilliant dark eyes, good features, and the prettiest slim hands and graceful63 arms. She was dressed gaily64 and handsomely in the fashion of her tribe, and on her lovely, bare, brown neck was this long string of Mexican pearls, which we noticed at once as being very valuable. She stayed there all the afternoon under the fruit-trees, and really grew quite confidential65. Mother, meanwhile, had gone into ecstacies over her beautiful pearls, and had taken them from her neck to examine them. At sunset, when she went home to her wigwam, she slipped the necklace into mother’s lap, saying, with her sweet trick of speech, ‘I eatie your peachie, you takie my beads66.’ Of course, mother could not accept them, and Eskaluna departed in quite a disappointed mood. I remember being sorry that the pretty young thing was going to marry the disagreeable, ugly chief. He was just as jealous and ferocious67 as he could be—wouldn’t let her talk to one of the warriors68 of the tribe, and had shot one man already because he fancied Eskaluna admired him.”
A chorus of “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” interrupted Bell, and Alice’s eyes grew round with interest, for she was sixteen and had been called a “cruel coquette” by a young student at Wareham.
“In a few days our Indian cook came home at night from the mines, saying that he wanted a holiday the next morning to go to a funeral. We had heard that in some tribes they burn the bodies of the dead, and wondered whether his were one of them, so we asked him the particulars, of course, and were terribly shocked when we heard that it was the funeral of poor Eskaluna, who had visited us so lately, in all her dusky beauty. Nakawa told us the whole story in his broken English, and a sad one it was. Her lover, the chief, as I have said, was always jealous of her, and on the afternoon she came to our house, he had heard from some crafty69 villain70 or other (an enemy of Eskaluna’s, of course), that she was false, and, instead of intending to marry him, loved a handsome young Indian of another tribe, and was planning to run away with him.
“This fired his hot blood, and he rushed off on the village road determined71 to kill her. He climbed a large sycamore tree on a lonely part of the way, and there waited until the shadows fell over the mountain sides, and the sun, dropping behind their peaks, left the San Jacinto valley in fast-growing darkness. At last he saw the gleam of her scarlet72 dress in the distance, and soon he heard her voice as she came singing along, little thinking of her dreadful fate. He took sure aim at the heart that was beating happily and carelessly under its cape73 of birds’ feathers; shot, and so swift and unerring was his arrow that she fell in an instant, dead, upon the path. Then, leaving her with the helpless old squaw, he escaped into a canon near by.
“The next day we went over to the Indian encampment, and reached the place just after poor Eskaluna had been burned on the funeral pile. We went close to the spot and could hardly help crying when we thought of her beauty and sweetness, and her sad and undeserved death. Up near the head of the pile where that lovely brown neck of hers had rested,—the prettiest neck in the world,—lay this charred74 string of pearls she had worn in our garden. Mother asked for it as a remembrance, and the old squaw gave it to her. Eskaluna’s brother is on the war-path after her murderer, I believe, to this day, if he hasn’t killed him yet; for he was determined to avenge75 her. Now, isn’t that romantic, and tragic76 at the same time, girls? Poor Eskaluna! I don’t know that her fate would have been much easier if she had married the chief; but it is hard to think of her being so heartlessly murdered when she was so innocent and true; and that’s the end of my story. Who comes next?”
“Not I, at this hour,” yawned Jo, “but it was a good tale!”
“Nor I, after that thrilling experience of yours!” said Alice, admiringly.
“I can think of no story half so delightful77 as the dreams we shall have if we go to bed,” murmured Edith from her cozy corner. “Come, it is after ten, and the wide bed calls loudly for occupants.”
In a half-hour all six were asleep, and the bright-faced moon, looking in at the piazza window, smiled as she saw the half-dozen heads in a row, and the bed surrounded by croquet mallets and balls.
![](../../../skin/default/image/4.jpg)
点击
收听单词发音
![收听单词发音](/template/default/tingnovel/images/play.gif)
1
drawn
![]() |
|
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2
rosy
![]() |
|
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3
buffalo
![]() |
|
n.(北美)野牛;(亚洲)水牛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4
poked
![]() |
|
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5
cozy
![]() |
|
adj.亲如手足的,密切的,暖和舒服的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6
sitting-room
![]() |
|
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7
parlor
![]() |
|
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8
galloping
![]() |
|
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9
sniffed
![]() |
|
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10
behold
![]() |
|
v.看,注视,看到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11
chamber
![]() |
|
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12
piazza
![]() |
|
n.广场;走廊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13
shudder
![]() |
|
v.战粟,震动,剧烈地摇晃;n.战粟,抖动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15
luncheon
![]() |
|
n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16
refreshments
![]() |
|
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17
pertaining
![]() |
|
与…有关系的,附属…的,为…固有的(to) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18
bluebell
![]() |
|
n.风铃草 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19
sumptuous
![]() |
|
adj.豪华的,奢侈的,华丽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20
dismally
![]() |
|
adv.阴暗地,沉闷地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21
solitary
![]() |
|
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22
harry
![]() |
|
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23
shutters
![]() |
|
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24
bent
![]() |
|
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25
rebellious
![]() |
|
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26
apron
![]() |
|
n.围裙;工作裙 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27
hearth
![]() |
|
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28
rosier
![]() |
|
Rosieresite | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29
demure
![]() |
|
adj.严肃的;端庄的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30
thoroughly
![]() |
|
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31
dubbed
![]() |
|
v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 );把…称为;配音;复制 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32
animated
![]() |
|
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33
antagonist
![]() |
|
n.敌人,对抗者,对手 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34
attained
![]() |
|
(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: |
|
|
35
pinnacle
![]() |
|
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36
muster
![]() |
|
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37
tablecloth
![]() |
|
n.桌布,台布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38
crooked
![]() |
|
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39
desperately
![]() |
|
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40
housekeepers
![]() |
|
n.(女)管家( housekeeper的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41
wont
![]() |
|
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42
cosy
![]() |
|
adj.温暖而舒适的,安逸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43
kindly
![]() |
|
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44
prettily
![]() |
|
adv.优美地;可爱地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45
peculiar
![]() |
|
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46
metaphor
![]() |
|
n.隐喻,暗喻 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47
bellows
![]() |
|
n.风箱;发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的名词复数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的第三人称单数 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48
frivolous
![]() |
|
adj.轻薄的;轻率的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49
scorched
![]() |
|
烧焦,烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(植物)枯萎,把…晒枯; 高速行驶; 枯焦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50
sociable
![]() |
|
adj.好交际的,友好的,合群的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51
horrid
![]() |
|
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52
brandishing
![]() |
|
v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 );炫耀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53
fatigue
![]() |
|
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54
sarcastically
![]() |
|
adv.挖苦地,讽刺地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55
awfully
![]() |
|
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56
fussy
![]() |
|
adj.为琐事担忧的,过分装饰的,爱挑剔的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57
allude
![]() |
|
v.提及,暗指 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58
luscious
![]() |
|
adj.美味的;芬芳的;肉感的,引与性欲的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59
crimson
![]() |
|
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60
tinged
![]() |
|
v.(使)发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61
sockets
![]() |
|
n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62
belle
![]() |
|
n.靓女 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63
graceful
![]() |
|
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64
gaily
![]() |
|
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65
confidential
![]() |
|
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66
beads
![]() |
|
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67
ferocious
![]() |
|
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68
warriors
![]() |
|
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69
crafty
![]() |
|
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70
villain
![]() |
|
n.反派演员,反面人物;恶棍;问题的起因 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71
determined
![]() |
|
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72
scarlet
![]() |
|
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73
cape
![]() |
|
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74
charred
![]() |
|
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式);烧焦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75
avenge
![]() |
|
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76
tragic
![]() |
|
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77
delightful
![]() |
|
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |