Chapter 8

 Next morning he awoke feeling sour-tempered and low-spirited.

"Well, my boy," his father asked him, blowing noisily at eachspoonful of soup he absorbed, "well, did you enjoy yourselfyesterday?"He answered curtly¹ and crossly. Everything stirred his gorge².

His aunt's print gown filled him with a sort of rage.

His father propounded³ a hundred minute inquiries⁴; he would fainhave pictured the whole expedition to himself as he consumed hisbowl of soup. He had seen Saint-Cloud in his soldiering days;but he had never been there since. He had a bright idea; theywould go to Versailles, the three of them; his sister would seeto having a bit of veal⁵ cooked overnight, and they could takeit with them. They would have a look at the pictures, eat theirsnack on the great lawn, and have a fine time generally.

Jean, who was horrified⁶ at the whole project, opened hisexercise-books and buried his head in his lessons, to avoid thenecessity of hearing any more and answering questions. He did notas a rule show such alacrity⁷ about setting to work. His fatherremarked on the fact, commending him for his zeal⁸.

"We should play," he announced, "when it is play-time, and workwhen it is the time to work," and _he_ set to work flatteninga piece of shagreen.

Jean fell into a brown study. He had caught a glimpse of a worldhe knew to be for ever closed against him, but towards whichall the forces of his young heart drew him irresistibly⁹. He didnot dream Madame Ewans could ever be different from what he hadseen her. He could not imagine her otherwise dressed or amid anyother surroundings. He knew nothing whatever of women; this onehad seemed motherly to him, and it was a mother such as MadameEwans he would have liked to have. But how his heart beat andhis brow burned as he pictured this imaginary mother a reality!

Dating from the day at Saint-Cloud, Jean thought himself unhappy,and unhappy he became in fact. He was wilfully¹⁰, deliberatelyinsubordinate, proud of breaking rules and defying punishments.

He and his school-mates attended the classes of a _Lycée_ inthe _Quartier Latin_. Directly he had taken his place on theremotest bench in the well-warmed lecture-room, he would becomeabsorbed in some sentimental¹¹ novel concealed¹² under piles ofLatin and Greek authors. Sometimes the master, short-sighted ashe was, would catch the culprit in the act.

Still, Jean had his hours of triumph. His translations wereremarkable, not for accuracy, but at any rate for elegance¹³. So,too, his compositions sometimes contained happy phrases thatearned him high praise. On the theme, "The maiden¹⁴ Theano defendingAlcibiades against the incensed¹⁵ Athenians," he wrote a Latinoration that was warmly commended by Monsieur Duruy, the thenInspector of Public Instruction, and gained the young authorsome weeks of scholastic¹⁶ fame.

On holidays he would roam the boulevards and gaze with greedyeyes at the jewels, the silks and satins, the bronzes, thephotographs of women, displayed in the shop-windows--the thousandand one gewgaws and frivolities of fashion that seemed to himto sum up the necessary conditions of happiness.

His entry into the philosophy class was a red-letter day; hesported his first tall hat and smoked his first non-surreptitiouscigarettes. He possessed¹⁷ a certain brilliancy of mind and a keenwit that amused his companions, whose superior he was in giftsof imagination.

His last vacation was passed in tolerable content. His father,thinking him looking pale, sent him on a visit to relatives livingin a village near Chartres. Jean, the tedious farm dinner ended,would go and sit under a tree and bury himself in a novel.

Occasionally he would ride to the city in the miller¹⁸'s cart.

Often he would be drenched¹⁹ all the way by the rain that felldrearily at nightfall. Then he would enjoy the fun of dryinghimself before the huge fireplace of some inn on the outskirtsof the town, beside the savoury roast on the turning spit. Heeven had a day's shooting with an old flint-lock fowling-pieceunder the auspices²⁰ of his cousin the miller. In short, he couldboast on his return of having had a country holiday.

1 curtly   

adv.简短地

参考例句：

• He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

3 propounded   

v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the theory of natural selection, first propounded by Charles Darwin 查尔斯∙达尔文首先提出的物竞天择理论
• Indeed it was first propounded by the ubiquitous Thomas Young. 实际上，它是由尽人皆知的杨氏首先提出来的。 来自辞典例句

4 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 veal   

n.小牛肉

参考例句：

• She sauteed veal and peppers,preparing a mixed salad while the pan simmered.她先做的一道菜是青椒煎小牛肉，趁着锅还在火上偎着的机会，又做了一道拼盘。
• Marinate the veal in white wine for two hours.把小牛肉用白葡萄酒浸泡两小时。

6 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

7 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

8 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

9 irresistibly   

adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地

参考例句：

• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was irresistibly attracted by her charm. 他不能自已地被她的魅力所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wilfully   

adv.任性固执地；蓄意地

参考例句：

• Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
• These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒，干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书

11 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

12 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

13 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

14 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。

15 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。

16 scholastic   

adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的

参考例句：

• There was a careful avoidance of the sensitive topic in the scholastic circles.学术界小心地避开那个敏感的话题。
• This would do harm to students' scholastic performance in the long run.这将对学生未来的学习成绩有害。

17 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

18 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

19 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。