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chapter 10
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In winter the Great South Bay is sometimes frozen over, and then it can be crossed very swiftly on a scooter, a better vehicle than the Hudson River iceboat because it will go from ice into water and back again on to ice without a spill. It is also more easily handled and travels faster. But there are days and sometimes weeks when the bay is impassable even for a scooter, which is merely a tiny boat with a pair of runners, after all. Thaw1 and freeze, freeze and thaw; a bay full of big, floating masses of ice, or so ridged and hillocked that nothing but an airplane will take you over it. And there were no airplanes when Mermaid2, all wrapped and mittened3, looked out upon the bay that winter of her eighth year.

There was a telephone linking the Coast Guard stations on the beach with one at Quogue on the Island itself, but direct communication with the ordinary system there was none. On one side of the living room of the Quogue Station was the beach phone, on the opposite wall was a “local and long distance.” Members of the Quogue crew, called up on either wire, obligingly relayed messages along the other.

In this manner it was made known to Cap’n Smiley[50] one February morning that his sister wished to see him.

The keeper was privately4 astounded5. So far as a hasty recollection served him, his sister had never before asked to see him about anything. The bay could not be crossed and he sent her word to that effect, thinking that she might disclose her purpose. Her reply, toned down by the drawl of Surfman No. 3, Quogue Station, was merely for him to visit her as soon as possible and to bring the little girl.

While waiting for the bay to freeze smooth, or clear from further thaws6, Cap’n Smiley had some uneasy moments. He had never taken Mermaid to his sister’s and he did not like the idea. She had seen the little girl; had met him walking with Mermaid on the streets of Blue Port; had stopped to exchange a frosty word or two and then had walked on, ignoring the child completely. What could she be up to now?

He was so uneasy that he raised the question, in a guarded way, with Ho Ha. He could do this, for Ho Ha knew all about his sister, and without actually saying very much, both could say a good deal.

“My opinion she has some proposition to lay before you,” commented Ho Ha.

“I don’t care to consider propositions,” replied the keeper.

Ho Ha drew his weathered cheek together with his fingers.

[51]“It might advantage Mermaid some way,” he suggested.

The keeper made a motion indicative of distrust.

About a week elapsed before the bay froze hard. Mermaid, in many layers of wool, with a red muffler about her throat, trotted7 down to the bayside where her Dad put her in the scooter. Then as the odd little craft gathered way, he half reclined so as to steer8 with her jib and roll about handily to ballast her.

They shot along at a mile a minute or better. The air was like impalpable ice pressing against Mermaid’s small cheeks and roaring in her ears. She could hardly open her eyes for the rush of tears. She shouted, but could barely make herself heard. It was all over in five or six minutes. The five-mile stretch had been crossed; Dad rounded to; the sail, so enormous a top-hamper on so tiny a potbellied body, came down, and they were off Blue Port, with only a little way to walk to tread the reassuring9, if rutty, earth.

Mermaid put her hand in Dad’s and they walked to the old-fashioned and heavily shuttered house where Keturah lived. She met them at the door and ushered10 them into the living room, which was also the kitchen, but very large, so that there was no sense of crowding. A hot fire burned in the stove, and slowly Cap’n Smiley divested11 Mermaid of her cocoon12. It was a little butterfly of an unusual sort that emerged. Keturah, looking with a severe, impassive face at the proceeding13, said at[52] last, without altering a muscle of her face or softening14 her customary tone:

“She looks very much as you would have looked, John, at her age, if you had been a girl.”

Her brother stared at the child with a gentleness in his eyes that left them when he glanced at his sister.

“Are you going to adopt her, John?”

The answer came with decision.

“I think I shall.”

“What about her schooling15?”

“I shall arrange for that next year. She knows her letters.”

“I’ll take her here and look after her.”

The keeper was startled, but he had long kept himself in hand in the presence of his sister.

“Thank you,” he paused slightly, “but I shall send her to the Biggleses’.”

Keturah, as if recalling the duties of hospitality, said, “Sit down. I’ll make a cup of tea. Do you like bread and jelly?”

The question was directed at Mermaid. The child had been eyeing the woman with attentiveness16. Now she answered politely, though she did not smile:

“I’m fond of it.”

Keturah Smiley entered her pantry and emerged with a brown jar and a loaf. She cut two large slices, spread them, and set a teapot on the stove. She said no more until the tea was brewed17. As she poured out two[53] steaming cups of it she remarked, pushing one toward her brother:

“What I leave of Aunt Keturah’s property goes to you. As I am not a spendthrift, in the natural course of events I would leave you more than I inherited. If you die before me it goes to your children. It would go to her.”

John Smiley swallowed too hastily and burnt his throat.

“This is not a matter to discuss before Mermaid,” he said, shortly.

“I sent for her because I wanted to have a good look at her, and I wanted you to have her to look at while you choose,” Keturah rejoined. “At first I thought it would not go to an adopted child, and so did Judge Hollaby. But he looked it up and the wording of the will is such that he thinks it would. I said once, to him, that if you ever adopted a child I would give or throw away every cent of that money. I was a fool; I can be as big a fool sometimes as any one else, brother.” It was on the tip of her tongue to add “yourself included,” but she checked it.

“Now I’ve had a good look at her. You take a good look at her, too. I know you more than half hate me, but that’s neither here nor there. Let the girl live with me and go to school and you can adopt her if you like, and I’ll do all I can in reason for her. Send her here to live with the Biggleses, and I’ll keep my promise to Judge Hollaby!”

[54]The tight-lipped rather hard-visaged woman was determined18, but she was curiously19 excited, too. Her rather flat chest rose and fell with her breath, and her breathing was almost audible in the stillness of the room. Mermaid, who had finished her slices of bread, looked with wonder, but with a childish gravity and apparently20 a suspension of judgment21, at this strange woman. The little girl knew who she was: she was Dad’s sister, but evidently as unlike him as possible. Still, her Dad’s sister was entitled to respect and a certain deference22, if not to affection. They were talking about money and Dad was angry. She had never seen him so angry, not even when her youngest uncle, Uncle Joe, had capsized the life boat in the surf.

John Smiley was indeed mad clear through. Only the presence of Mermaid restrained him. He stood up in all his height and placed himself squarely in front of his sister, his hands clenching23 and unclenching and clenching again.

“You can take your money, Keturah,” he said, rather slowly, “and give it away or throw it away, as you please. I don’t care what you do with it. But there are some things it won’t buy you!”

“I know money means nothing to you, John,” said Keturah, sarcastically24, “but it might mean something to someone else. You’re forgetting her, John, you’re forgetting the girl. Money can’t buy me some things I want, maybe, and it can’t buy you some things you[55] want, maybe; but it can buy her things she’ll want. You’ve no right to throw away her chance!”

Her brother, his eyes on the child, seemed just perceptibly to waver, and then he burst out:

“What’s at the bottom of this? What are you after?”

Keturah, calmed a little by the success of her argument, answered him:

“It might be just wanting to have a young and growing creature around me, John! It might be that I’m not the inhuman25 creature you take me for, that I’m sometimes lonely; that company would cheer me up; that I might even be a softer body than I’m generally considered to be if I had someone to talk to and listen to and work for and with! It might be all that, but I won’t tax your powers of belief, brother, by asking you to suppose so. No! The real reason is simply this—” her excitement returned and she appeared almost feminine in her rage—“that I am just human enough, and just woman enough, and just fool enough to hate having people say my own brother couldn’t trust his adopted daughter to live with me, and had to farm her out to Susan and Henry Biggles to care for!”

The keeper was impressed. There was no denying Keturah spoke26 the truth, so far as her own feeling was concerned. She, who cared nothing for the good will of her neighbours, for gossip, for backbiting27, for well-earned dislike or worse, she, Keturah Smiley, with her grasping ways and her old clothes and her bitter tongue,[56] had a streak28 of femininity—or plain humanity—left in her after all these years. She could still care for public opinion on some things. They might call her stingy, mean, heartless in many ways; they might laugh at her, sneer29 at her, and hate her for many things; but that they should hold her in contempt; that they should be able to say that her own brother would not trust her with his little girl—that she dreaded30. The prospect31 of it cut her like a lash32. She might not care what people said about her behaviour toward John Smiley’s wife, for John Smiley’s wife had run away and left him, taking their baby, and so had sealed her unworthiness. She would care what people said about her behaviour toward John Smiley’s daughter, whether a daughter of his own blood or a waif washed ashore33 from the ocean. She cared about that now and she would continue to care. John Smiley saw this and knew that he held a hostage for her good behaviour. While the feeling lasted, anyway.... He spoke gently:

“Mermaid, would you be willing to live with my sister here, and go to school?”

The child, with the soberness that was so unlike her usual mood, but that had been evident since she entered the house, looked straight at him and then straight at Keturah Smiley. She had gathered that a matter of importance was at stake. It might be that she could help her Dad in some way, doing this. She said clearly and gravely:

[57]“Yes, Dad.”

Keturah gave no demonstration34 of pleasure. She was not triumphant35, but she seemed genuinely relieved. She looked at Mermaid with a stern sort of satisfaction, and said nothing.

As they left the house and headed for the bay Mermaid’s hand closed in a tight pressure over the keeper’s.

“You’ll come to see me as often as you are over, won’t you, Dad?” she asked him, anxiously.

His answer was to lift her in his arms and kiss her.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 thaw fUYz5     
v.(使)融化,(使)变得友善;n.融化,缓和
参考例句:
  • The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
  • The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。
2 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。
3 mittened 0339c59c4c6ae46a2089fb1d15387c45     
v.(使)变得潮湿,变得湿润( moisten的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He moistened his lips before he spoke. 他润了润嘴唇,接着就开始讲话。
  • Although I moistened it,the flap doesn't stick to the envelope. 我把信封弄湿了,可是信封口盖还是粘不上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 privately IkpzwT     
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地
参考例句:
  • Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
  • The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。
5 astounded 7541fb163e816944b5753491cad6f61a     
v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词);愕然;愕;惊讶
参考例句:
  • His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
  • How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话?我感到大为震惊。
6 thaws 4f4632289b8d9affd88e5c264fdbc46c     
n.(足以解冻的)暖和天气( thaw的名词复数 );(敌对国家之间)关系缓和v.(气候)解冻( thaw的第三人称单数 );(态度、感情等)缓和;(冰、雪及冷冻食物)溶化;软化
参考例句:
  • The sun at noon thaws the ice on the road. 中午的阳光很快把路上的冰融化了。 来自辞典例句
  • It thaws in March here. 在此地化雪的季节是三月。 来自辞典例句
7 trotted 6df8e0ef20c10ef975433b4a0456e6e1     
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。
8 steer 5u5w3     
vt.驾驶,为…操舵;引导;vi.驾驶
参考例句:
  • If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车,我就来驾车。
  • It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。
9 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
参考例句:
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
10 ushered d337b3442ea0cc4312a5950ae8911282     
v.引,领,陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
  • A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 divested 2004b9edbfcab36d3ffca3edcd4aec4a     
v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 );脱去(衣服);2。从…取去…;1。(给某人)脱衣服
参考例句:
  • He divested himself of his jacket. 他脱去了短上衣。
  • He swiftly divested himself of his clothes. 他迅速脱掉衣服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 cocoon 2nQyB     
n.茧
参考例句:
  • A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
  • The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。
13 proceeding Vktzvu     
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。
14 softening f4d358268f6bd0b278eabb29f2ee5845     
变软,软化
参考例句:
  • Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的,已经成了个软心肠的人了。
15 schooling AjAzM6     
n.教育;正规学校教育
参考例句:
  • A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
  • Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。
16 attentiveness 16d48271afd0aa8f2258f02f4f527672     
[医]注意
参考例句:
  • They all helped one another with humourous attentiveness. 他们带着近于滑稽的殷勤互相周旋。 来自辞典例句
  • Is not attentiveness the nature of, even the function of, Conscious? 专注不正是大我意识的本质甚或活动吗? 来自互联网
17 brewed 39ecd39437af3fe1144a49f10f99110f     
调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 ); 酝酿; 沏(茶); 煮(咖啡)
参考例句:
  • The beer is brewed in the Czech Republic. 这种啤酒是在捷克共和国酿造的。
  • The boy brewed a cup of coffee for his mother. 这男孩给他妈妈冲了一杯咖啡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
19 curiously 3v0zIc     
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地
参考例句:
  • He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
  • He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。
20 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
21 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
22 deference mmKzz     
n.尊重,顺从;敬意
参考例句:
  • Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗?
  • The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。
23 clenching 1c3528c558c94eba89a6c21e9ee245e6     
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙,她握紧双拳,心里想。 来自飘(部分)
  • Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇,点点头。 来自辞典例句
24 sarcastically sarcastically     
adv.挖苦地,讽刺地
参考例句:
  • 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
  • Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她,讽刺地鞠了一躬。
25 inhuman F7NxW     
adj.残忍的,不人道的,无人性的
参考例句:
  • We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
  • It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。
26 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
27 backbiting d0736e9eb21ad2d1bc00e3a309b2f35c     
背后诽谤
参考例句:
  • You should refrain your tongue from backbiting. 你不要背后诽谤人。
  • Refrain your tongue from backbiting. 不要在背后中伤人家。
28 streak UGgzL     
n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动
参考例句:
  • The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
  • Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹?
29 sneer YFdzu     
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语
参考例句:
  • He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
  • You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻,但很多人喜欢这种音乐。
30 dreaded XuNzI3     
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
  • He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》
31 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
32 lash a2oxR     
v.系牢;鞭打;猛烈抨击;n.鞭打;眼睫毛
参考例句:
  • He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
  • With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。
33 ashore tNQyT     
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸
参考例句:
  • The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前,孩子们就上岸了。
  • He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
34 demonstration 9waxo     
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
35 triumphant JpQys     
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的
参考例句:
  • The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
  • There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。


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