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CHAPTER 3 CHICKEN DINNER
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The discovery that Rhoda’s brother had stolen food was disconcerting to Penny. Saying good-bye to Mrs. Breen, she prepared to drive away from the trailer camp.

“Oh, you can’t go so soon,” the woman protested. “You must stay for dinner. We’re having chicken and there’s plenty for everybody!”

“Really we can’t remain,” Penny declined. “Louise and I both are expected at home.”

“You’re just afraid you’ll put me to a little trouble,” Mrs. Breen laughed, swinging open the car door and tugging2 at Penny’s hand. “You have to stay.”

Taking a cue from their mother, the three young children surrounded the girls, fairly forcing them toward the trailer. Ted1 immediately started in the opposite direction.
[22]

“You come back here, Ted Wiegand!” Mrs. Breen called in a loud voice.

“I don’t want any dinner, Mom.”

“I know better,” Mrs. Breen contradicted cheerfully. “You’re just bashful because we’re having two pretty girls visit us. You stay and eat your victuals3 like you always do, or I’ll box your ears.”

“Okay,” Ted agreed, glancing at Rhoda again. “It’s no use arguing with you, Mom.”

Neither Penny nor Louise wished to remain for dinner, yet they knew of no way to avoid it without offending Mrs. Breen. Briskly the woman herded4 them inside the trailer.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” she asked proudly. “We have a little refrigerator and a good stove and a sink. We’re a bit crowded, but that only makes it more jolly.”

A man in shirt sleeves lay on one of the day beds, reading a newspaper.

“Meet my husband,” Mrs. Breen said as an afterthought. “Get up, Pop!” she ordered. “Don’t you have any manners?”

The man amiably5 swung his feet to the floor, grinning at Penny and Louise.

“I ain’t been very well lately,” he said, as if feeling that the situation required an explanation. “The Doc tells me to take it easy.”

“That was twenty years ago,” Mrs. Breen contributed, an edge to her voice. “Pop’s been resting ever since. But we get along.”
[23]

Rhoda and Ted, who had followed the others into the trailer, were acutely embarrassed by the remark. Penny hastily changed the subject to a less personal one by pretending to show an interest in a book which lay on the table.

“Oh, that belongs to Rhoda,” Mrs. Breen responded carelessly. “She brought it from the library. Ted and Rhoda always have their noses in a book. They’re my adopted children, you know.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Breen have been very kind to us,” Rhoda said quietly.

“Stuff and nonsense!” Mrs. Breen retorted. “You’ve more than earned your keep. Well, if you’ll excuse me now, I’ll dish up dinner.”

Penny and Louise wondered how so many persons could be fed in such a small space, especially as the dinette table accommodated only six. Mrs. Breen solved the problem by giving each of the three small children a plate of food and sending them outdoors.

“Now we can eat in peace,” she remarked, squeezing her ample body beneath the edge of the low, anchored table. “It’s a little crowded, but we can all get in here.”

“I’ll take my plate outside,” Ted offered.

“No, you stay right here,” Mrs. Breen reproved. “I never did see such a bashful boy! Isn’t he the limit?”

Having arranged everything to her satisfaction, she began to dish up generous helpings6 of chicken and potato. The food had an appetizing odor and looked well cooked, but save for a pot of tea, there was nothing else.
[24]

“We’re having quite a banquet tonight,” Pop Breen remarked appreciatively. “I’ll take a drumstick, Ma, if there ain’t no one else wantin’ it.”

“You’ll take what you get,” his wife retorted, slapping the drumstick onto Penny’s plate.

Louise and Penny made a pretense7 of eating, finding the food much better than they had expected. Neither Ted nor Rhoda seemed hungry, and Mrs. Breen immediately called attention to their lack of appetite.

“Why, Ted! What’s the matter you’re not eating? Are you sick?”

The boy shook his head and got to his feet.

“I’m not hungry, Mom,” he mumbled8. “Excuse me, please. I have a date with a fellow at Riverview, and I have to hurry.”

Before Mrs. Breen could detain him, he left the trailer.

“I can’t understand that boy any more,” she observed with a sad shake of her head. “He hasn’t been himself lately.”

The younger members of the Breen family quite made up for Ted and Rhoda’s lack of appetite. Time and again they came to the table to have their plates refilled, until all that remained of the chicken was a few bones.
[25]

Penny and Louise felt quite certain that Rhoda realized what her brother had done and was deeply humiliated9 by his thievery. To spare the girl further embarrassment10, they declared that they must leave. However, as they were presenting their excuses, there was a loud rap on the door of the trailer. Peering from the curtained window, Mrs. Breen immediately lost her jovial11 manner.

“He’s here again,” she whispered. “What are we going to tell him, Pop?”

“Just give him the old stall,” her husband suggested, undisturbed.

Reluctantly, Mrs. Breen went to open the door. Without waiting for an invitation, a well-dressed man of middle age entered the trailer. Penny immediately recognized him as Jay Franklin, who owned the Dorset Tourist Camp. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Breen,” he began, his manner falsely cheerful. “I suppose you know why I am here again?”

“About the rent?”

“Precisely.” Mr. Franklin consulted a small booklet. “You are behind one full month in your payments, as of course you must be aware. The amount totals eight dollars.”

“Pop, pay the gentleman,” Mrs. Breen commanded.

“Well, now, I ain’t got that much on me,” her husband rejoined, responding to his cue. “If you’ll drop around in a day or two, Mr. Franklin—”

“You’ve been stalling for weeks! Either pay or your electric power will be cut off!”
[26]

“Oh, Mr. Franklin,” pleaded Mrs. Breen, “you can’t do that to us. Why, with our refrigerator on the blink, the milk will sour. And I got three little children.”

The man regarded her with cold dislike.

“I am not interested in your personal problems, Mrs. Breen,” he said, delivering his ultimatum12. “Either settle your bill in full by tomorrow morning, or move on!”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
参考例句:
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
2 tugging 1b03c4e07db34ec7462f2931af418753     
n.牵引感v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉,样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
  • She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他,一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句
3 victuals reszxF     
n.食物;食品
参考例句:
  • A plateful of coarse broken victuals was set before him.一盘粗劣的剩余饭食放到了他的面前。
  • There are no more victuals for the pig.猪没有吃的啦。
4 herded a8990e20e0204b4b90e89c841c5d57bf     
群集,纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 ); 放牧; (使)向…移动
参考例句:
  • He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
  • They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。
5 amiably amiably     
adv.和蔼可亲地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
  • Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 helpings 835bc3d1bf4c0bc59996bf878466084d     
n.(食物)的一份( helping的名词复数 );帮助,支持
参考例句:
  • You greedy pig! You've already had two helpings! 你这个馋嘴!你已经吃了两份了!
  • He had two helpings of pudding. 他吃了两客布丁。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
7 pretense yQYxi     
n.矫饰,做作,借口
参考例句:
  • You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
  • Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。
8 mumbled 3855fd60b1f055fa928ebec8bcf3f539     
含糊地说某事,叽咕,咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话,可我没太听清楚。
  • George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。
9 humiliated 97211aab9c3dcd4f7c74e1101d555362     
感到羞愧的
参考例句:
  • Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当,父母也失体面。
  • He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻,丢尽了面子。
10 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫
参考例句:
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
11 jovial TabzG     
adj.快乐的,好交际的
参考例句:
  • He seemed jovial,but his eyes avoided ours.他显得很高兴,但他的眼光却避开了我们的眼光。
  • Grandma was plump and jovial.祖母身材圆胖,整天乐呵呵的。
12 ultimatum qKqz7     
n.最后通牒
参考例句:
  • This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
  • The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。


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