Chapter 35

At the end of a week Long Hicks stood astounded¹ at his own performances.  At the end of a year he was still astonished, and proud inordinately²; and till the end of his life he will never forget the smallest particular of that week’s exploits.  The policeman who came with a warrant for Butson, the young man from Mr. Dunkin, who came about the stock, the other young man that came the next time—he polished them all off, and half a dozen others, in the most dashing and businesslike manner.  He found a new shop—found a score of shops, in fact, so that Nan May was fain to rouse herself and choose, lest some hopeless sepulchre of trade were rented without her knowledge.  And this was good, for it gave her work to do and to think of, and once set going, she buckled³ to her task with all her old energy, and a world of riper experience.  The shop was not so fortunately placed as that at Harbour Lane, and trade was never quite so good as it had been there when at its best.  More, its place was in a dingy⁴ street, out of sight of the river and the ships.  But it was a fairly busy thoroughfare, and things could be sold there, which was p. 272the main consideration.  And it was Hicks’s triumph to stock this shop with the stock from Harbour Lane—conveyed secretly by night, on a truck, with many chucklings, after cunning putting-off of Mr. Dunkin.  The tale whereof he would tell ever after with bashful glee, together with the tale of the sad emptiness and disorganisation of Mr. Dunkin’s new branch at its opening on Monday morning.  And Uncle Isaac (who found his niece’s new shop ere long) assured the listener by frequent proclamation, that Mr. Hicks was a gentleman of vast business ability, and a genius at enterprise.
 

“Yus, a genius, that’s what I say, Mr. Cottam—a genius of uncommon⁶ talent.”  It was a wet afternoon, when Cottam and Hicks had taken ten minutes’ shelter in the round-house by the quay⁷-side: and presently were joined by Uncle Isaac, on his way across from the docks.

Mr. Cottam grunted⁸.  He had met Uncle Isaac twice before.

“Lord!” Uncle Isaac went on, gazing at the uneasy Hicks with steadfast⁹ admiration¹⁰, “Lord!  If ’e was on’y ambitious’ ’e might be anythink!  What a ornament¹¹ ’e ’d be to a Diplomatic Corpse¹²!  Talk about Enterprise!  Why at Enterprise an’ any sort o’ circumventions ’e’s—’e’s—why there, as I alwis say, ’e might be Ambashador to ’er Majesty’s possessions!”

p. 273The shower flagged, and men came out on the quays¹³.  Mr. Cottam rose from the coil he had been sitting on, took his gaze out of space, and fixed¹⁴ it on the wall over Uncle Isaac’s head.  “Mr. Mundy!” he trumpeted¹⁵, in the manner of a man beginning a speech to an expectant multitude; raising his forefinger¹⁶ to his shoulder and lowering it till it rested on Uncle Isaac’s chest; “Mr. Mundy!”

Then he paused, and Uncle Isaac said, “Yus, Mr. Cottam.”

The pause endured and grew impressive; till at last the foreman’s face relaxed, his gaze descended¹⁷ till it met Uncle Isaac’s, and he chuckled¹⁸ aloud, stabbing him playfully with the forefinger.  “Why—what a windy ol’ kidder you are!” said Mr. Cottam; and stamped off along the quay, croaking¹⁹ and chuckling⁵ all over.

1 astounded   

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。

2 inordinately   

adv.无度地，非常地

参考例句：

• But if you are determined to accumulate wealth, it isn't inordinately difficult. 不过，如果你下决心要积累财富，事情也不是太难。 来自互联网
• She was inordinately smart. 她非常聪明。 来自互联网

3 buckled   

a. 有带扣的

参考例句：

• She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
• The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。

4 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

5 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

6 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

7 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

8 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

9 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

10 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

11 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

12 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

13 quays   

码头( quay的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She drove across the Tournelle bridge and across the busy quays to the Latin quarter. 她驾车开过图尔内勒桥，穿过繁忙的码头开到拉丁区。
• When blasting is close to such installations as quays, the charge can be reduced. 在靠近如码头这类设施爆破时，装药量可以降低。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 trumpeted   

大声说出或宣告（trumpet的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Soldiers trumpeted and bugled. 士兵们吹喇叭鸣号角。
• The radio trumpeted the presidential campaign across the country. 电台在全国范围大力宣传总统竞选运动。

16 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。

17 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

18 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

19 croaking   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• the croaking of frogs 蛙鸣
• I could hear croaking of the frogs. 我能听到青蛙呱呱的叫声。 来自《简明英汉词典》