CHAPTER II.

 Richt hardie baith in ernist and play.—Sir David Lyndsay.

 

 

"Morton, what was the little old fogy in the white cravat¹ saying to you just now in the library?"

 

"Telling me that my father was a worthy² man, and that he hoped I should make just such another."

 

"Ah, that was kind of him."

 

"What a pile of books you are lugging³! Here, let me take half a dozen of them for you. You look as if you were training to be a hotel porter."

 

"I am laying in for vacation."

 

"What sense is there in that? Let alone your Latin, Greek, and mathematics; what the deuse is vacation made for? Take to the woods, as I do, breathe the fresh air, and see the world at large."

 

"Do you call it seeing the world at large, to go off into some barbarous, uninhabitable place, among mosquitoes, snakes, wolves, bears, and catamounts? What sense is there in that? What can you do when you get there?"

 

"Shoot muskrats⁴, and fish for mudpouts. Will you go with me?"

 

"Thank you, no. There's no one in the class featherwitted enough to go with you, except Meredith, and he ought to know better."

 

"Stay at home, then, and improve your mind. I shall be off to-morrow."

 

"Alone?"

 

"Yes."

 

Mr. Horace Vinal shrugged⁵ his shoulders, a movement which caused Sophocles and Seneca to escape from under his arm. Morton gathered them out of the mud, and thrusting them back again into their place, left his burdened fellow-student to make the best of his way towards his den⁶ in Stoughton Hall.

1 cravat   

n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结

参考例句：

• You're never fully dressed without a cravat.不打领结，就不算正装。
• Mr. Kenge adjusting his cravat,then looked at us.肯吉先生整了整领带，然后又望着我们。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 lugging   

超载运转能力

参考例句：

• I would smile when I saw him lugging his golf bags into the office. 看到他把高尔夫球袋拖进办公室，我就笑一笑。 来自辞典例句
• As a general guide, S＄1 should be adequate for baggage-lugging service. 一般的准则是，如有人帮你搬运行李，给一新元就够了。 来自互联网

4 muskrats   

n.麝鼠（产于北美，毛皮珍贵）( muskrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

5 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。