Miss Saker bared the keyboard of the piano and suffered her slim fingers to produce musical etchings in black and white. She was considered something of a wit in her own circle, her humor emulating8 the spangled, short-skirted brilliance9 of the variety stage. Miss Saker was in a mischievous10 mood that evening, and the starched11 artificiality of the dinner-hour emphasized the reaction.
Putting down sundry12 chords in the base with melodramatic thunder, she glanced over her shoulder with a theatrical13 frown.
“Tragedy, my dear—tragedy,” she said; “the man is in a deep, deceitful mood. He has something ponderous14 and painful upon his conscience.”
Ophelia turned herself in her lounge-chair and lay with one cheek on the cushion, a diamond crescent shining in her hair.
“He is too talkative,” she remarked.
“True, O queen. When a man talks thus”—and Miss Saker evolved a rackety and hysterical15 air—“you may bet your boots his nerves are on the tingle16. He is hiding something under his coat.”
“It was easy to see that from the first,” remarked the wife.
“He went green when he saw us in the hall.”
“Rather a shock, perhaps. The man had been out all day; I can guess where.”
Meanwhile Gabriel had wandered to the garden, where the hand of evening was crushing the red juices of the sunset, staining the cloudy steps of heaven. The lawns were of green silk, the flowers thereon like color fallen from the pallet of day. The cypresses17 stood clothed with azure18, the pines like Ethiop maidens19 wrapped in gossamer20 work of gold. In the thickets21 two thrushes were singing, flinging lyric22 rivalry23 over the dusky leaves.
The man plunged24 to the more lonely depths, a broad hollow where flowers and shrubs25 were tangled26 in a mist of green. He walked, inhaling27 the perfumed breath of the hour, with head thrown back, as one who watches the heavens. All the damsels of the night seemed to steal out of their chambers28, dewy-lipped, ebon-tressed, with eyes liquid as moon-kissed water. Love! What was it? A vapor29 and a shade? An intangible essence dying on the lips when tasted, with an infinite regret!
He passed again from the swarthy shrubberies, and saw the windows of his own home yellow and tiger-eyed towards the night. Roses beckoned30 in the gloom. What were they to him? With the grass like velvet31 moss32 under his feet, he drew near to a window and listened. Music came from within, and laughter, facile and light. They were merry, these two, merry at his heart’s cost, and perhaps Gabriel guessed it. Their words were like falling water to him, confused and meaningless. Despite the pleading voice of his woman of dreams, he grew full of bitterness and keen irony33 of soul.
It had grown dark when he went in to them. A constrained34 quiet seemed to pervade35 the room even from the moment that his hand had touched the door. Books were forthcoming, cushions, and an occasional trite36 monosyllable that broke the silence. More than once a yawn arose behind the ivory screen of five white fingers. The man’s presence seemed to agree ill with the atmosphere. It was not long before the two oppressed ones arose and trailed languidly to bed.
Gabriel sat on over a paper-backed novel that he had found lying in a chair. A Close Climax37 was its title, and from some casual introspection of its pages he surmised38 that it was gotten from the French, and not the more ideal for that same reason. He noted39 remarks concerning ladies’ underclothing, a perfervid scene in a fashionable Spanish beauty’s boudoir, sundry hints as to happiness, physical of course, and a frequent appeal to a sentiment named Love. The book did not hold much converse40 with him that evening. It abode41 on his knee more as a cynical42 fragment of realism. An instinctive43 and nameless fear of the future was the wraith44 that stood at his side that night.
The expression of the ensuing week was no less proud and icy. An intangible antagonism45 pervaded46 the home life of the place, freezing the fibres and sinews of truth, congealing47 such magnanimity as moved in the man’s blood. After the first three days he abandoned all attempts at conjuring48 his wife from her impregnable attitude of silence. She appeared unimpressionable as granite49; her very beauty was the opalescent50 flash of sunlight upon ice. Moreover, the inevitable51 Miss Saker, like a watchful52 crow, was forever flapping on the horizon. On no single occasion did Gabriel succeed in obtaining any lengthy53 privacy with his wife. They seemed to exist on frigid54 society small-talk and on mundane55 inanities56 that gave no scope to the man’s conscience.
On the Wednesday after Ophelia Strong’s return the Gabingly folk with half the Saltire worthies57 descended58 upon The Friary for the purpose of courteous59 chatter60. To Gabriel’s sensitive melancholy61 the house appeared converted into a sudden pandemonium62 of fashion. His political responsibilities hung like a girdle of thorns about his loins. Mr. Mince63, with his usual oleaginous arrogance64, deigned65 to dictate66 to him on the educational question and the rights of church schools. Later he was cornered by his father-in-law, who demanded, with superlative geniality67: “Why the deuce, man, don’t you run over and see us oftener; my Blanche swears you’re turning into a damned political hermit68, only bobbing up on state occasions.” The culminating irritation69 descended upon him in the person of his father, who indulged, for some fateful reason, in parental70 inquires as to his domestic happiness. The suggestion was the last bodkin prick71, rankling72 in the man’s flesh. John Strong parted from his son that afternoon with a somewhat ruffled73 temper. Gabriel was more than ever an enigma74 to the paternal75 mind, and John Strong, like most Britishers, cordially detested76 anything he could not understand.
At the end of the aforesaid week Gabriel was like a man groping through a quagmire77 on a moonless night. The stagnant78 pools around him, symbolizing79 his own thoughts, gave back a distorted and sinister80 reflection of his misery81. It was not in his nature to suspect the sincerity82 of his wife’s scorn. The mood was logical enough, condoned83, indeed, by his own conscience. How much she knew or surmised he dared not imagine; it was sufficient for him to realize that some deep gulf84 lay between them. Harassed85 with loneliness, unable to thread the future or to pierce the past, he seemed surrounded by a deep and desolate86 wilderness87 where he heard the shriek88 of the lapwing, the beating of invisible wings, the hoarse89 chatter of dead and wind-shaken grass. Above lay the sky, the black bowl of fate, starless, limitless, and void.
点击收听单词发音
1 lugubrious | |
adj.悲哀的,忧郁的 | |
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2 smiting | |
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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3 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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4 discomfort | |
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便 | |
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5 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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6 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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7 antipathy | |
n.憎恶;反感,引起反感的人或事物 | |
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8 emulating | |
v.与…竞争( emulate的现在分词 );努力赶上;计算机程序等仿真;模仿 | |
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9 brilliance | |
n.光辉,辉煌,壮丽,(卓越的)才华,才智 | |
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10 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
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11 starched | |
adj.浆硬的,硬挺的,拘泥刻板的v.把(衣服、床单等)浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 sundry | |
adj.各式各样的,种种的 | |
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13 theatrical | |
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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14 ponderous | |
adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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15 hysterical | |
adj.情绪异常激动的,歇斯底里般的 | |
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16 tingle | |
vi.感到刺痛,感到激动;n.刺痛,激动 | |
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17 cypresses | |
n.柏属植物,柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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18 azure | |
adj.天蓝色的,蔚蓝色的 | |
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19 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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20 gossamer | |
n.薄纱,游丝 | |
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21 thickets | |
n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 );丛状物 | |
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22 lyric | |
n.抒情诗,歌词;adj.抒情的 | |
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23 rivalry | |
n.竞争,竞赛,对抗 | |
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24 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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25 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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26 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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27 inhaling | |
v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
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28 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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29 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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30 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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32 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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33 irony | |
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄 | |
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34 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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35 pervade | |
v.弥漫,遍及,充满,渗透,漫延 | |
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36 trite | |
adj.陈腐的 | |
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37 climax | |
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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38 surmised | |
v.臆测,推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 );揣测;猜想 | |
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39 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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40 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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41 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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42 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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43 instinctive | |
adj.(出于)本能的;直觉的;(出于)天性的 | |
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44 wraith | |
n.幽灵;骨瘦如柴的人 | |
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45 antagonism | |
n.对抗,敌对,对立 | |
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46 pervaded | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 congealing | |
v.使凝结,冻结( congeal的现在分词 );(指血)凝结 | |
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48 conjuring | |
n.魔术 | |
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49 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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50 opalescent | |
adj.乳色的,乳白的 | |
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51 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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52 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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53 lengthy | |
adj.漫长的,冗长的 | |
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54 frigid | |
adj.寒冷的,凛冽的;冷淡的;拘禁的 | |
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55 mundane | |
adj.平凡的;尘世的;宇宙的 | |
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56 inanities | |
n.空洞( inanity的名词复数 );浅薄;愚蠢;空洞的言行 | |
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57 worthies | |
应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 ); 值得做某事; 可尊敬的; 有(某人或事物)的典型特征 | |
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58 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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59 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
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60 chatter | |
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战 | |
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61 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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62 pandemonium | |
n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
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63 mince | |
n.切碎物;v.切碎,矫揉做作地说 | |
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64 arrogance | |
n.傲慢,自大 | |
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65 deigned | |
v.屈尊,俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66 dictate | |
v.口授;(使)听写;指令,指示,命令 | |
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67 geniality | |
n.和蔼,诚恳;愉快 | |
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68 hermit | |
n.隐士,修道者;隐居 | |
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69 irritation | |
n.激怒,恼怒,生气 | |
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70 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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71 prick | |
v.刺伤,刺痛,刺孔;n.刺伤,刺痛 | |
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72 rankling | |
v.(使)痛苦不已,(使)怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 ) | |
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73 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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74 enigma | |
n.谜,谜一样的人或事 | |
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75 paternal | |
adj.父亲的,像父亲的,父系的,父方的 | |
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76 detested | |
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77 quagmire | |
n.沼地 | |
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78 stagnant | |
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的 | |
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79 symbolizing | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 ) | |
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80 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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81 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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82 sincerity | |
n.真诚,诚意;真实 | |
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83 condoned | |
v.容忍,宽恕,原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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85 harassed | |
adj. 疲倦的,厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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86 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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87 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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88 shriek | |
v./n.尖叫,叫喊 | |
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89 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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