Mrs. Tom looked tragically1 at the group consulting over their father-in-law in the old-fashioned library. Miss Clara, the unmarried daughter, had left the room.
“We have a picture,” announced Mrs. Andrew complacently2; “a cathedral interior, beautifully dark and perspective. Little Mary has a cup and saucer, and Francis a whisk broom.”
“My boys can give black-bordered silk handkerchiefs,” said Mrs. Frank. “Clara suggests that I have that armchair re-covered, the one he never sits in.”
“Malcolm had better get him another dozen cases of mineral water,” said Mrs. Malcolm. “When it’s in the house he drinks it. But that hardly seems enough, father’s so generous to us. I shall buy a small refrigerator for his room—it’s so useful in sickness.”
“What do you think of rubber water-bags[230] in assorted4 sizes?” suggested Mrs. Walter eagerly. “If he had a pain in two or three places at once they’d be very handy.”
“Ah!” Mrs. Frank lowered her voice. “I dread5 coming here Christmas afternoon and staying to supper; don’t you? We can get along all right, and the little girls bring their dolls, but boys are so restless—and men, too! It was so different when Kate and her children were living here, but last year——! Clara doesn’t know how to make the house attractive.”
“She worries so now that father has to stay up-stairs,” agreed Mrs. Malcolm feelingly. “The boys love their grandfather, but there’s nothing for them to do. Why, Violet, you’re not going?”
“I must,” answered a girl with reddish hair and pretty, long-lashed eyes, who was Mrs. Arthur. She had risen, and was throwing a white boa around her neck. Her white teeth flashed suddenly in a smile: “I never was of so much importance before. Good-bye, everybody!”
She ran down the hall, looking in at an open doorway6 to call an audacious “Last tag!” to a tall old man who sat there reading, and receive his quick, amused response before she went swiftly homeward.
Violet’s appointment with the baby was[231] very important indeed. As she sat afterwards in the darkened nursery, with the infant’s little downy head against her warm breast, her thoughts went back to grandfather. Somehow his Christmas prospects7 depressed8 her—the dark picture and the mineral water, the re-covered chair, the refrigerator and the rubber bags seemed so unlightsome; there was nothing from which the most willing mind could conjure9 festivity. Even the perennial10 handkerchiefs and whisk brooms and cups and saucers failed to cheer her. It seemed dreadful to be so old that you weren’t supposed to want anything anybody else did, to have everything so tiresomely11 suitable. Violet had an irreverent desire to send her father-in-law a pink necktie or a flippant poster.
There could be no greater contrast to the needs of Age than this softly-curtained place, with its white furniture, and a blue rug in front of the brass12 andirons on which the pine logs burned aromatically13. A blue and white bassinet swung by a gilded15 rod, and a white willow16 hamper17 showed the blue satin-lined tray, filled with miniature ivory toilet articles, and tiny garments, laced and ribboned—all the dainty appanage of a “first” baby.
A silver and mother-of-pearl rattle18 and a French clown, belled and tinselled, on a white[232] stick, lay upon the blue table-cover, while a large drum, fastened on the wall above, showed that in the pride of welcoming a boy love hadn’t been able to wait for him to grow into his heritage.
Her sisters-in-law characterized Violet fondly as a mere19 child; in truth she was a jolly little girl, but underneath20 the jollity were the directness and insight, and the shy, deep feeling of a child, so hidden as to be almost unguessed. Only her husband saw and reverenced21 that unfathomed sweetness. But even he did not know of those far-off journeys which her spirit took in company with her little new-born son, in the wonder of his soft, warm mouth, his tiny feet, and unconscious, clasping fingers.
The birth of her child had been to Violet also the birth of Thought; she pondered on the mysteries; for the first time she realized the existence of that great chain whose links are composed alternately of life and death, with the coming and the going of generations. In this infant life she saw the time when her own days should be numbered, and grew pale, yet unafraid, as she held him closer, because the goodness of God was so near.
He was such a very little baby that he was not much of anything as yet to any one but[233] his mother, though his father was indeed unmeasurably proud of him as a son and heir, and regarded him with deeply expectant, if amused, affection. But to Violet he was a wellspring not only of the traditional pleasure but of infinitely23 more. As one who stands with the ear to a sea-shell, rapt with the sound of the mysterious murmurs24 of the far-off ocean, so Violet, when she sat bending over her baby, felt a deep, tremulous connection with beautiful, unseen things that were holiness unto the Lord. She was so happy that she longed for every one to be happy; her child-heart even yearned25 maternally26 over grandfather, who had lived so many years that people couldn’t see that he was still young. She was a partner in the secret; if she called “Last tag” to him it was because she knew he liked it. He was a kind, wise old man, who submitted patiently to Miss Clara’s fusses and restrictions27 because he saw the love back of them; and he had lived his life so fully3 and well that it did not seem worth while to strive to live it now. Yet sometimes, as Violet divined, he was contented28 to dwell in the past because the present was a little lonely now that the house was no longer the rallying-place for the young, as in the time of his daughter Kate, who had children of her own.
[234]
“Little blessedest! I want your grandfather to have a Merry Christmas,” said Violet confidingly29 to the baby in her arms, who raised his tiny lashes30 as if in response, and looked at her an instant before the lids fell shut again. She pressed him closer in adoration31. “Oh, aren’t you sweet, aren’t you sweet!” and fell to kissing him softly, a process from which she found that mothers gain wisdom.
“Did you decide what to get for father yesterday?” asked her husband the next morning. He was a man of noticeably fine appearance, and a lawyer of repute; it was still a wonder in the family how he had ever come to marry Violet, who yet seemed to suit him exactly.
“No,” answered Violet
“Then I think you’d better get that new dictionary I was speaking of; it’s published by Worden. I’ll leave you the money.”
“I thought he had so many dictionaries.”
“My dear child, that’s just the reason for giving him another.”
“I will not get him a dictionary,” said Violet. Yet she weakened after a tour through the shops. She could find nothing for her father-in-law that appealed in the least to an imagination all ready to be fired. Yet it was joy to be out for Christmas shopping[235] in the crisp air to one who had been so little able lately to go abroad, while before her raptured32 vision she saw ever a wee sock hung by the nursery hearth33, and a tiny lighted tree. Many little children were to be made happy this holy-tide because her child had come to her—Violet’s thank-offering had flowed by many streams to reach unseen baby hands. As she went along now she stopped to slip coins into the palms of longing34 boys and girls looking in at Christmas-decked windows.
“Oh, Violet!”
It was Mrs. Tom who clutched her. “Isn’t it dreadful—the rush! I’m nearly dragged to pieces. I’ve just bought an inkstand for father, in the shape of a peach, with a thermometer on it—the kind of thing no one ever uses, but I was desperate. I’ve a big woolly sheep for your baby, but if you think he’s too little for it——”
“Oh, no!” cried Violet, her face rosy35 with pleasure. “How dear of you!” She could have embraced Mrs. Tom before crossing over to the toy store, a ravishing spot, one window of which was given up to regiments36 and regiments of lead soldiers afoot and on horseback, on a green plain dotted with little round white tents. The other window was filled with dolls sitting at tea-tables, swinging,[236] or lying in pink or blue-and-white beds like the baby’s at home. When Violet was a little girl she had always been taken through this shop at Christmas time; it was one of the delights of the season, but never had it seemed so delightful37 as now, when she was buying toys for a “first” Christmas, while music-boxes played, and animals squeaked38, and rattling39, whirring mechanical toys ran riot.
She stopped at last by a counter laden40 with glittering tree ornaments41. Opposite were shelves filled with stationary42 engines varied43 with an occasional boat or locomotive. There seemed to be no clerk there, but a small boy, seven or eight years of age, with a white sailor cap pushed back to make a halo around his short golden curls, was walking backward and forward, regarding the display with rapt, angelic eyes, and incidentally putting out the tip of his chubby44 forefinger45 to touch a cylinder46 or an electric battery. Looking up suddenly he caught Violet’s eye; they both smiled, and she came over to him. So might her own little boy look some day.
“Do you like engines?”
“Yes,” said the boy with a deep, indrawn breath. He forestalled47 criticism: “I’m not too little to have one; my papa says so![237] He’ll run it for me. He’s down-stairs now.” He pointed48 to the shelf. “Do you see this one? That’s where you pour the alcohol in—and this is the steam gauge—and here’s the safety-valve. She’s a hummer! And this ’lectric—that’s a hummer, too!”
“Oh,” said Violet. She sought for more definite accomplishment49. “What do they do?”
“They go!” answered the little boy. “And they set other things going, too, if you want ’em.” He indicated an array near by: fountains, a man sawing wood, a printing press, and the like. “You ’tach ’em by a thread. See that one up there?” He pointed to a large cylinder of grey burnished50 steel. His tone fell to one of reverence22. “It pumps water!”
“Goodness!” exclaimed Violet with delightful appreciation51. “I’m so glad to talk to you because I have a little boy myself, but he isn’t as big as you—he’s only six weeks old.”
“Gee!” said the little boy with his angelic smile. “I never knew any one as little as that.” He stopped disapprovingly52. “Why, that’s only a baby!”
“Ah, that’s what people call him,” said Violet, sagely53; “they think he can’t even talk. Of course he doesn’t really say anything,[238] but we have long conversations together—I always know what he means.”
The little boy nodded. “My mamma and I talk that way too,” he said simply.
“Then there’s another one—I wish you’d tell me what to buy for him—he’s about seventy or eighty years older.”
“But that’s an old man!” cried the boy in wonder.
Violet shook her head. “Oh, no! Of course, that’s what people call him,” she explained again, tolerantly; “but we know better.”
The boy looked at her debatingly. “Is it ‘Once Upon a Time,’ or is it ‘A True Story’?” he asked.
“It’s both,” said Violet.
Their eyes met this time in the joyousness54 of mutual55 understanding.
“I like you, I like you,” cried the little boy, and tucked his hand into hers, jumping along with both feet in short flying leaps. “Come here! I’ll show you what to buy for him, I’ll show you; that! Oh, there’s my papa beckoning56 to me!”
He dropped her hand and disappeared like a flash in the crowd by the stairs.
“Well,” said Violet to herself, staring in front of her. “Well—why not?”
“I couldn’t get here a minute sooner—I[239] had to lie down after I got them all out of the house.”
Mrs. Tom, arriving late at the paternal57 mansion58 on Christmas afternoon, was taking off her wraps in the hall as she looked in at the circle of sisters-in-law sitting around the fire in the drawing-room, warm with the smell of cedar59, and bedecked with scarlet60 holly61. Through the open doorway beyond the mahogany table, set with the old white-and-gold china, showed promise of good things to come.
“How cozy62 you all look in here—but where are the others?” asked Mrs. Tom.
Miss Clara spread out her hands with a gesture of dismay, belied63 by her beaming face.
“Well, you’ll never guess—every man and boy is up-stairs with father, trying to run that crazy engine Violet sent him; it’s one of those dreadful electrical things. If I’d had the remotest idea what was in the box—and she never even told Arthur! You can’t get one of them out of that room, except to—— Listen to that!”
A boy’s footsteps came hurtling down the back stairs, and a moment later an excited voice called:
“Will it work?”
“No,” came from above.
[240]
“Oh, I see what’s the matter. Will it work now?”
“No.”
“Wait a moment till I come up.”
“They’ve been doing that for two mortal hours,” said Mrs. Malcolm placidly64. “They have miles of wire trying to attach something—don’t ask me what, for I haven’t the faintest idea. Of course it won’t work; engines never do; if they did all the occupation would be gone. My husband is just as bad as the rest. They all have engines at home, but they say Violet’s beats the lot. Just hear that child laugh; she’s been up there all the afternoon. We’ve been having the most beautifully restful time down here by ourselves. I haven’t seen father look so happy in months, and in all that clatter65! Did you hear that Kate is coming back?”
“Will you listen to that!” said Mrs. Walter.
The inevitable66 footsteps were clattering67 again madly down-stairs, with the accompanying voice:
“Will it work?”
“No.”
“Oh, I guess I see what’s the matter with it this time. Will it work now?”
“No.”
“Wait till I come up!”
The end of a holiday is the dearest part of[241] a happy one, when the jewels are counted over, to be strung on the silver thread of memory. The lights were turned down low in the nursery, so that the flames of the fire of aromatic14 pine were reflected rosily68 from the white surface of the enamelled furniture, as Violet sat there in her loose blue gown, her reddish hair half curling over her shoulders, rocking her little son with his head pressed against her white bosom69. After all the merry Christmas Day, after all the clatter, and jollity, and family chatter70, the supper, the plum pudding, and the lighted candles, and the children’s carols of the Child Divine, she was back here once more with her little, little son—the life that was mysteriously her life too. Ah, not because of the feasting and the presents, nor the merry companionship, not all because of the inspiring engine even, had the day been Christmas indeed to an old man and those who felt the sweetness, unknowing. Through Violet’s happiness had come the Angel Note.
The drum hung upon the wall, and set out on the blue rug was a small farmyard of animals, with the large white woolly sheep and a brown tin cow on wheels, towering above them. On the table stood a tiny Christmas tree, decked with a red, a blue and a yellow candle, a little horse, a little[242] horn, a candy hen and a glittering star, and on the mantel was a paper angel in white and tinsel with dovelike wings and floating hair.
Violet’s husband coming through the room put his hand tenderly on her hair as he passed.
“Little mother!” he said.
She leaned her head back against his hand, her eyes mutely acknowledging his caress71, before she withdrew once more into that holy place where she lived to-night with the child, and where even the man she loved could not follow her.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tragically
|
|
| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
complacently
|
|
| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
assorted
|
|
| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
prospects
|
|
| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
depressed
|
|
| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
conjure
|
|
| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
perennial
|
|
| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
tiresomely
|
|
| adj. 令人厌倦的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
brass
|
|
| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
aromatically
|
|
| 芳香的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
14
aromatic
|
|
| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
willow
|
|
| n.柳树 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
hamper
|
|
| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reverenced
|
|
| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 )；敬礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
reverence
|
|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
murmurs
|
|
| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
yearned
|
|
| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
maternally
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
restrictions
|
|
| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
confidingly
|
|
| adv.信任地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
adoration
|
|
| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
raptured
|
|
| 欢天喜地的，狂喜的，销魂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
33
hearth
|
|
| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
regiments
|
|
| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
squeaked
|
|
| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ornaments
|
|
| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
stationary
|
|
| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
varied
|
|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
chubby
|
|
| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
forefinger
|
|
| n.食指 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
cylinder
|
|
| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
forestalled
|
|
| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
accomplishment
|
|
| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
burnished
|
|
| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
appreciation
|
|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
disapprovingly
|
|
| adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
sagely
|
|
| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
joyousness
|
|
| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
mutual
|
|
| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
beckoning
|
|
| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
paternal
|
|
| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
cedar
|
|
| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
holly
|
|
| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
cozy
|
|
| adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
belied
|
|
| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
clatter
|
|
| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
clattering
|
|
| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
rosily
|
|
| adv.带玫瑰色地，乐观地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
69
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
chatter
|
|
| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
caress
|
|
| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |