CHAPTER XVI

 Adam Clotworthy had watched the growing drama with Laydon, Wingfield, and Anne in the title r?les, with keen interest.

 

“Sail in, sail in, John, and take the ship by storm. I tell you a maiden¹ likes a man who overcomes obstacles, instead of pottering around, mooning like a calf². You leave her too much alone, and it is no telling what fancies she will get into her giddy pate³.”

 

“I am not going to furnish food for her mirth with Wingfield,” answered John angrily, recollecting⁴ the previous attempts to see her which had been met by a drastic snubbing. “I shall guard her in every way I can, but I have made the last advances I intend to.”

 

“John, you are what I call a simon-pure fool.”

 

“Fool or no fool, I am a man.” And with that unanswerable argument Laydon walked away.

 

Turning over various plans in his head whereby he might help John, Adam was startled as the shadow of Wingfield fell in front of him.

 

117

 

“Take your hulking carcass out of the path of a gentleman,” said Wingfield to Adam.

 

“Gentleman?” inquired Adam. “Where is he? I do not see him.”

 

“Do you dare to insult your betters, you base-born cub⁵?”

 

“Base-born!” yelled Adam. “My ancestors come from better stock than yours, seeing they were honest men.”

 

“Honest men? Why, you cannot look an honest man in the face.”

 

“I will tell you how that happened,” replied Adam, restored to good humor by the thrust he had given Wingfield. “Originally both eyes looked in the same direction, but whenever I was talking to an honest man I had to keep one eye upon the rogue⁶. The strain was too much and they parted company. The blue eye, being the keener, I keep fixed⁷ on rogues⁸, and if you observe closely, you will see that my brown eye is looking up the stream. I leave you to guess the direction of the blue one. I’ll tell you something else. If you do not keep your paw out of a certain little matter we both know of, John Laydon will send you to feed the fishes.”

 

Ripping out his sword, Wingfield made a thrust at Adam. Laydon, who had just118 come up behind, caught the sword as it descended⁹, and wrenching¹⁰ it out of his hand, hurled¹¹ it into the bushes. Without further parley¹², he fell upon Wingfield and pounded him unmercifully. The ex-President’s rage made him forget the social distance between the carpenter and the gentleman, and he gave blow for blow in return. Adam, watching every advantage, and with head lowered, charged upon Wingfield from behind like a battering-ram.

 

The noise and scuffle brought President Smith hurriedly to the spot.

 

“Stop! I command you,” he thundered.

 

The enraged¹³ combatants sullenly¹⁴ parted, and Wingfield began a tirade¹⁵ of abuse against low-born scullions who presumed to strike a gentleman.

 

“It is no use for you to talk to me, Wingfield. I know you and haven’t forgotten the message you sent Opechancanough. Better look to yourself or else you will find that a dungeon¹⁶ in England is much worse than a residence here.”

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

3 pate   

n.头顶；光顶

参考例句：

• The few strands of white hair at the back of his gourd-like pate also quivered.他那长在半个葫芦样的头上的白发，也随着笑声一齐抖动着。
• He removed his hat to reveal a glowing bald pate.他脱下帽子，露出了发亮的光头。

4 recollecting   

v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Once wound could heal slowly, my Bo Hui was recollecting. 曾经的伤口会慢慢地愈合，我卜会甾回忆。 来自互联网
• I am afraid of recollecting the life of past in the school. 我不敢回忆我在校过去的生活。 来自互联网

5 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

6 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

7 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。

8 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

9 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。

10 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 parley   

n.谈判

参考例句：

• The governor was forced to parley with the rebels.州长被迫与反叛者谈判。
• The general held a parley with the enemy about exchanging prisoners.将军与敌人谈判交换战俘事宜。

13 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

14 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

15 tirade   

n.冗长的攻击性演说

参考例句：

• Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
• He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。

16 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。