Chapter 2

 The widower¹, who from the Beauce country, sent his son to hisnative village in the Eure-et-Loir to be brought up by kinsfolkthere. As for himself, he was a strong man, and soon learnedto be resigned; he was of a saving habit by instinct in bothbusiness and family matters, and never put off the green sergeapron from week's end to week's end save for a Sunday visit tothe cemetery². He would hang a wreath on the arm of the blackcross, and, if it was a hot day, take a chair on the way backalong the boulevard outside the door of a wine-shop. There, as hesat slowly emptying his glass, his eye would rest on the mothersand their youngsters going by on the sidewalk.

These young wives, as he watched them approach and pass on, wereso many passing reminders³ of his Clotilde and made him feel sadwithout his quite understanding why, for he was not much givento thinking.

Time slipped by, and little by little his dead wife grew to be atender, vague memory in the bookbinder's mind. One night he triedin vain to recall Clotilde's features; after this experience,he told himself that perhaps he might be able to discover themother's lineaments in the child's face, and he was seized witha great longing⁴ to see this relic⁵ of the lost one once more,to have the child home again.

In the morning he wrote a letter to his old sister, MademoiselleServien, begging her to come and take up her abode⁶ with the littleone in the _Rue Notre-Dame⁷ des Champs_. The sister, who had livedfor many years in Paris at her brother's expense, for indolencewas her ruling passion, agreed to resume her life in a city where,she used to say, folks are free and need not depend on theirneighbours.

One autumn evening she arrived at the _Gare de l'Ouest_ with Jeanand her boxes and baskets, an upright, hard-featured, fierce-eyedfigure, all ready to defend the child against all sorts ofimaginary perils⁸. The bookbinder kissed the lad and expressed hissatisfaction in two words.

Then he lifted him pickaback on his shoulders, and bidding himhold on tight to his father's hair, carried him off proudly tothe house.

Jean was seven. Soon existence settled down to a settled routine.

At midday the old dame would don her shawl and set off with thechild in the direction of Grenelle.

The pair followed the broad thoroughfares that ran between shabbywalls and red-fronted drinking-shops. Generally speaking, a skyof a dappled grey like the great cart-horses that plodded⁹ past,invested the quiet suburb with a gentle melancholy¹⁰. Establishingherself on a bench, while the child played under a tree, she wouldknit her stocking and chat with an old soldier and tell him hertroubles--what a hard life it was in other people's houses.

One day, one of the last fine days of the season, Jean, squattedon the ground, was busy sticking up bits of plane-tree bark inthe fine wet sand. That faculty¹¹ of "pretending," by which childrenare able to make their lives one unending miracle, transformed ahandful of soil and a few bits of wood into wondrous¹² galleries andfairy castles to the lad's imagination; he clapped his hands andleapt for joy. Then suddenly he felt himself wrapped in somethingsoft and scented¹³. It was a lady's gown; he saw nothing exceptthat she smiled as she put him gently out of her way and walkedon. He ran to tell his aunt:

"How good she smells, that lady!"Mademoiselle Servien only muttered that great ladies were nobetter than others, and that she thought more of herself withher merino skirt than all those set-up minxes in their flouncesand finery, adding:

"Better a good name than a gilt¹⁴ girdle."But this talk was beyond little Jean's comprehension. The perfumedsilk that had swept his face left behind a vague sweetness, amemory as of a gentle, ghostly caress¹⁵.

1 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

4 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

5 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

6 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

7 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

8 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

9 plodded   

v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作）

参考例句：

• Our horses plodded down the muddy track. 我们的马沿着泥泞小路蹒跚而行。
• He plodded away all night at his project to get it finished. 他通宵埋头苦干以便做完专题研究。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

11 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

12 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

13 scented   

adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)

参考例句：

• I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

15 caress   

vt./n.爱抚，抚摸

参考例句：

• She gave the child a loving caress.她疼爱地抚摸着孩子。
• She feasted on the caress of the hot spring.她尽情享受着温泉的抚爱。