They lured15 me out among the dead branches, where the robins16 were dolefully hopping17 in search of crumbs18, and exclaimed together: "Oh, Angela, wait till you hear the news!"
What news? Why, I was to go away, across the sea, which was always awfully19 wet, like the pond, only bigger and deeper. A ship, they said, was like those little paper-boats the boys used to make at Kildare, and you sat in it and rocked up and down, unless a shark came and ate you up. Somebody told them that the English were dreadfully proud, and thought no end of themselves, and looked down on the Irish.
"But you must stand up for yourself, Angela. Tell them your father was king of Ireland lots of hundreds of years ago, and that long ago, when the kings lived, all your cousins and brothers were red-cross knights20."
"What were red-cross knights?" I asked, deeply impressed.
"Oh, they were men who wore long cloaks with red crosses on them, and rode about on steeds."
"What's steeds?" I breathlessly inquired.
"Horses," was the pettish21 answer; "only you know they go quicker than horses, and knights always preferred steeds. And they took things from the rich and gave them to the poor."
"What things?" I again asked.
"Isn't she stupid? I declare she knows nothing. Why, food and money and clothes, to be sure. They'll say the Irish are dreadful ignorant and stupid when they see Angela, won't they?"
A great deal more was of course said between four passionate22 and voluble children; but all I remember of that winter afternoon was the stupendous news that I was going away in a ship soon across the sea to a foreign land, where I should be submitted to insult, perhaps torture, because I was Irish, if I were not previously23 devoured24 by a shark—a creature the more terrible because of my complete ignorance not only of its existence, but of its general features; and the mention of a new animal was something like the menace of the devil: large, luminous25, potent26, and indistinct. I already knew through Mary Jane that there was a Queen who put Irish people into prison, and entertained herself by hanging them at her leisure, and that evening I startled Mary Ann out of her senses by asking her if it was likely I should be hanged in England like[Pg 102] Robert Emmet. And then, in order that she should have a proper notion of the extent of my acquaintance with Robert Emmet, I stood in the middle of the kitchen, with my arms strenuously27 folded, my brows gathered in a fearful frown to reproduce the attitude of Robert Emmet in the dock, as depicted28 in the parlour of Mary Jane's mamma.
"You know the English hanged him 'cause he was Irish," I explained, extremely proud to impart my information. "Mary Jane told me so. When I fell into the pond she cried, 'cause she was afraid the Queen would hang her too."
Mary Ann laughed till she wept, and then drying her eyes, vowed29 she would like to see "thim English" touch a gould hair of my head. "If thim monsthers as much as lay a hand on ye, darlint, you just send me word, and me and Dennis 'll soon come over and whack30 them all round."
Perfidious31 Mary Ann! She failed to keep this large and liberal promise when, in my sore hour of need, I indited32 an ill-spelt epistle to her from Saxon shores, and urged her to come and save me. I did not insist upon the whacking33, I only entreated34 to be taken back to Erin. Probably the letter never reached her.
I think that it was immediately after this engrossing35 hour that I found Mary Ann sobbing36 over an open trunk in the lumber-room. "Your very own, alannah; look at the big white letters," she cried, and wiped her eyes in a new linen37 garment before pressing it into the box. "Thim monsthers can't say as you haven't chimmies fit for any lady of the land. Ye're to wear a black cashmere o' a Sunday, just as if all your relatives was dead. Did ye ever hear the likes?"
I certainly never did, for strange to say I had not worn a black dress after Stevie's death. I did not, however, dislike the notion. Black was not a hue38 with which I was familiar. Still musing39 on all the extraordinary things that were continually happening, and wondering whether the eventual40 climax41 of an uncertain career would prove the shark or the gallows42, not, however, using this superb word in my reflections on the end of a little girl precariously43 balanced on the boards of existence, I found myself confronted with my terrible grandmother in a farewell interview.
She was propped44 up with pillows, and her eternal egg-flip was beside her on a little table, along with her prayer-book, her spectacles, her rosary, and her favourite novel, which I afterwards[Pg 104] learned was "Adam Bede." My mind reverted45 then, and has since often reverted, to an abominable46 scene in that chamber I abhored. I had been noisy or disobedient,—raced down the passage, or refused to go to bed when uncle Lionel shouted to me from above the kitchen-stairs, probably stamping my foot with the air of a little fury, which was my sad way in those untamed days. With a Napoleonic gesture, my uncle caught my ear, and dragged me into the awful presence. Here he was solemnly ordered to fetch the knife-sharpener, which he did; heated it among the flames till it glowed incandescent47 scarlet48; then, my grandmother looking fiendishly on, gathered me between his knees, held my mouth open with one hand, and approached it to my lips. Of course it did not touch me, but memory shrinks, a blank, into the void of terror.
The precise text of my grandmother's address I forget, but the nature of her harangue49 is unforgettable. She addressed me as might a magistrate50 a refractory51 subject about to be discharged from a reformatory. I was exhorted52 not to be bold, or bad, or saucy, to say my prayers, to tell the truth, not to thieve (oh! that damson-jam and those coppers), not to get[Pg 105] caught again by the police; I was warned that I might drop dead in one of my violent fits of rage, and then I would surely go to hell; was adjured53 to learn my lessons, to respect my superiors, to break none of the Commandments, to avoid the seven deadly sins, learn the Catechism by heart, with the alternative of having my hair cut short and being sent to the poorhouse. She then held out her yellow hand, and placed a sparkling sovereign in my small palm.
"Don't lose it. There are twenty shillings in it, and in each shilling twelve pennies. Good-bye, and don't forget all I've said."
She shook my hand in her loose gentlemanly fashion, as if I were a young man going to college instead of a baby girl of seven about to be expatriated alone among strangers, in an alien land, for no conceivable reason but the singular caprice of her who had given me so ill a gift as life. It was the last time I saw my grandmother. I heard soon of her death with complete indifference54.
"Polly was a jolly Japanese," sang my uncle cheerily, as he caught me up in his arms, and carried me down to the cab, on which Dennis had placed my trunk. Mary Ann was weeping on the steps. She handed me a bag of [Pg 106]gingerbread and two apples, and told me I was not to be "down."
"'Tis yourself that's worth all the English that ever was born," she asserted, and I dolorously55 assured her that whatever happened, even if the Queen came in person to hang me, I would keep "up."
"That's me hearty," roared Dennis, holding the cab-door. "In with you, and do something for your living."
Uncle Lionel lifted me in, gave me a crown-piece, and to my astonishment56 kissed both my cheeks without hurting me. He stood on the pavement, handsome, smiling, and elegant, as the cab drove off with solitary57, bewildered little me as surely a waif as any orphan58. And waving his hand, he turned unconcerned on his heel.
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1
saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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9
palatial
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| adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的 | |
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transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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13
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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15
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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17
hopping
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| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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19
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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21
pettish
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| adj.易怒的，使性子的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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25
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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28
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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29
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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30
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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31
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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32
indited
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| v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
whacking
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| adj.（用于强调）巨大的v.重击，使劲打( whack的现在分词 ) | |
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34
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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36
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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37
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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38
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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39
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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40
eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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41
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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42
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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43
precariously
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| adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地 | |
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44
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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46
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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47
incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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48
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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49
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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50
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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51
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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52
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
adjured
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| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
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54
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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55
dolorously
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| adj. 悲伤的；痛苦的；悲哀的；阴沉的 | |
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56
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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57
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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58
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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