February 15th, 1——

One comfort, I am not bothered much with Aunt Gwendolin—she has become acquainted with a French nobleman, Count de Pensier, and he is attracting all her attention, thanks be to goodness! Mrs. Delancy is delighted, and is doing all she can to further the acquaintance. "It is not every day that one has the privilege of associating daily and hourly with one of the titled aristocracy of the old world," she has said several times in my hearing.

When we first arrived Aunt Gwendolin saw some of the Spanish ladies wearing mantillas on their heads, and she immediately bought one for me.

"There!" she said when I put it on, "isn't that simply perfect? Doesn't that make her Spanish through and through?" She says that when I become a thorough Spanish-American she is going to give a "coming out party" for me.

The scarf is really quite becoming. Uncle Theodore admired it, or admired me with it on, so I wear it wound around my head when I go on my rambles¹ through the country with him. I really much prefer it to the bristling² hats of the American women, and it is quite pleasant to be called "se?orita," and to be thought Spanish.

These long head scarfs are also worn by the poor women, but theirs are made of cotton. On the street they carry their babies strapped³ to their backs with it, the little heads and legs bobbing up and down until one would think they might snap off. Sometimes the[Pg 183] scarf ties the baby to the mother's bosom⁴, thus leaving her hands free for other work.

"Our American sensibilities" (quoting Aunt Gwendolin) "are sometimes shocked by Mexican doings."

One day we saw a procession headed by the father carrying a tiny coffin⁵ on his head. Behind him walked the mother dragging by the hand a little bare-foot girl, of two or three; and behind them again trotted⁶ a dog. The father was drunk, and staggered as he walked.

As we watched the little procession on the way to the graveyard⁷ they passed in front of a saloon where they sold pulque. The father wanted another drink, so he started to enter the saloon taking the little coffin under his arm. He stumbled on the threshold, and the little pine box fell out of his hands down[Pg 184] onto the flag-stones, the cover coming off. And we saw a little dead baby within the coffin, with a crown of gilt⁸ paper on its head, and a cross of gilt paper on its brow. In its little hands were a bunch of flowers. The man laughed awkwardly, put the lid on the coffin and placed it on his head again, proceeding⁹ toward the graveyard without his drink, followed by the mother, the girl, and the dog.

"Why do not the American missionaries¹⁰ who are crossing oceans to find heathen, look for them at their own doorstep?" said Uncle Theodore afterwards, when he was telling the story to grandmother.

"Sure enough," returned grandmother, "it does look as if the unenlightened of its own continent is America's first duty."
 
Aunt Gwendolin is having moonlight walks and talks innumerable with Count de Pensier—and—oh, I am having LIBERTY!

1 rambles   

（无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论

参考例句：

• He rambles in his talk. 他谈话时漫无中心。
• You will have such nice rambles on the moors. 你可以在旷野里好好地溜达溜达。

2 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

3 strapped   

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》

4 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

5 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

6 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

7 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

8 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

9 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

10 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》