March 12th, 1——

It is settled—but not without a fight—I do not have to wear the furs with heads and tails, and all the rest. To please my grandmother, who was so afraid I might catch cold, I submitted to accepting a plain set, a set which[Pg 57] dear grandmother had selected herself. Aunt Gwendolin was furious¹, and fought hard that I should be compelled to wear the first set, but grandmother overruled. I see the mother can be the head of the house in America when she chooses.

It was the kittens that decided² grandmother. One day she and I were out for a short walk, and we met a girl with two little kittens around her hat—not real live kittens, but the skins of two little gray and white kittens stuffed with cotton batting, and with glass eyes, arranged as if meeting and sparring around the crown of that girl's hat. "It is barbaric," said grandmother. "There are two kinds of heathen. There are the heathen who are born such, and there are the heathen by choice. And if we look about us we must [Pg 58]acknowledge we have a great multitude³ of them at home." It almost made grandmother sick, and she decided at once that I could get the furs changed. "I never seem to have awakened⁴ to the enormity of it before," said poor grandmother with a sigh. How glad I am that the mother can be the head of the house in America when she chooses!

A young man whom we all call Cousin Ned, because he is a distant relative of the family, comes here to grandmother's house very often. He talks incessantly⁵ about "first base," "second base," and "third base," "innings," and "runs," "pitchers," and "short-stop," "outfield," and "infield," "right-fielder," "centre-fielder," and "left-fielder," "scores," and "catchers." It is all Greek to grandmother and me, but we can get him to talk about nothing[Pg 59] else. I asked Uncle Theodore the first time I saw this cousin of ours, what he was doing—his home is many miles away, and he is boarding in the city.

"He is here ostensibly to attend the University," said Uncle Theodore, "but Ned is a great sport."

As Uncle Theodore was walking away he sang lightly:
"If fame you're on the lookout⁶ for and seek it over all
The words you must engrave⁷ upon your mind are these: Play Ball!"

This was rather unusual, for Uncle Theodore rarely sings, and I am sure I do not know what he meant by it.

By reason of the relationship, Cousin Ned feels free to come to the house without ceremony at all hours of the day. Most of the time he is wearing a "sweater," with a large letter on the breast.

1 furious   

adj.狂怒的，暴怒的，强烈的，激烈的

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• His wife was furious with him.他妻子对他大发雷霆。

2 decided   

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。

3 multitude   

n.众多，大量，大群，大众

参考例句：

• He has a multitude of friend.他有许多朋友。
• A growing economy covers a multitude of sins for the government.蓬勃的经济为政府掩盖种种见不得人的东西。

4 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

6 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

7 engrave   

vt.（在...上）雕刻，使铭记，使牢记

参考例句：

• It is difficult to engrave in marble.在大理石上雕刻是困难的。
• The jeweller will engrave the inside of the ring with her name.珠宝匠将在戒指的内表面上刻上她的名字。