Chapter 34

“Oh, give us some time to blow the man down!” roared Mr. Bushell, splashing and puffing¹ amid much yellow soap and cold water in the wash-house, whither he had gone for a wash, on coming home from his tug².  The voice thundered and rolled through the house, and on the first floor, strangers not used to it grew muddled³ in their conversation.

    “Blow the man down, bully⁴, blow the man down—
             To my Aye!   Aye!   Blow the man down!
    Singapore Harbour to gay London town—
    Oh, give us some time to blow the man down!”

Up on the first floor landing, “A-a-ah! pore dears!” said Mrs. Bushell, fat and sympathetic, looking up at Johnny, with her head aside and her hands clasped.  “Pore dears!  No, nobody shan’t disturb ’em!  Lor, ’ow I do feel for ’em; an’ you too, Mr. May.  Lucky you’re growed up to be a comfort to yer pore mar⁵!  There—I won’t say nothin’ about yer father!  Runnin’ away so disgraceful an’ all.  But I can’t think what parents is comin’ to, some of ’em.  There’s the pore gal⁶ as is leavin’ the other two rooms o’ Monday, now—sich a quiet, p. 269well-be’aved young lady; we wouldn’t ’a’ let ’em stop a week if it wasn’t for ’er sake, bein’ so ’ard to find a respectable lodgin’s with sich a mother.  But there—’er mother worries the pore thing’s life out—alwis drinkin’—an’ now she’s akchally in gaol⁷ for breakin’ a public-’ouse winder!  An’ I sez—”

“Public-house window!” Johnny’s breath came short and thick.  “What’s her name?”

“P’raps I shouldn’t ’a’ mentioned it to a stranger, but lor, I don’t s’pose you know ’er, an’ it’s Sansom.  But—”

“Where is she?  Show me!  In here?  Is she in now?”  Johnny made dashes at divers⁸ door-handles with one hand, while Mrs. Bushell, confounded and scandalised, restrained him desperately⁹ by the opposite arm.  It took some impatient moments to make it plain to the landlady¹⁰ that he intended no violent assault, nor, on consideration, even the rudeness of dashing into a lady’s rooms unannounced.  Whereupon Mrs. Bushell went to a door and knocked, Johnny close at her heels.  And presently the door opened.

“Nora!”

“Oh Johnny, Johnny, I wish you hadn’t! . . . We shall only—”  But with that the words died on the breast of Johnny’s coat.  Mrs. Bushell’s eyes opened round, and then her mouth; and then Mrs. Bushell went off very quietly downstairs—eyes and mouth and face p. 270all round—and out into the wash-house; and “Blow the Man Down” stopped in the middle.

“Oh, but you know what I said, Johnny!  We can’t—you know we can’t!”

“Nonsense!  I shan’t let you go now.  I’ve got a disreputable mother now—or so they say.  Have you heard of yours—since?”

“She’s in the infirmary—very bad.  Something’s been forming on the liver for years, the doctor says; and when she couldn’t get anything to drink she broke down at once.  But what did you say about your mother?”

Johnny told her the tale.  “And now,” he added in the end, “she’s in there, worn out an’ broken down, an’ not a woman in the world to comfort her but my sister.  Come in, an’ help.”  And they went in together.

1 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

3 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

6 gal   

n.姑娘，少女

参考例句：

• We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
• What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么？

7 gaol   

n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢

参考例句：

• He was released from the gaol.他被释放出狱。
• The man spent several years in gaol for robbery.这男人因犯抢劫罪而坐了几年牢。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。