Chapter 18

 After sitting all day over little problems in arithmetic, heset off in the evening in working clothes for the _Avenue del'Observatoire_. There, between two tallow candles, in frontof a hoarding¹ covered with ballads³ in illustrated⁴ covers, a fellowwas singing in a cracked voice to the accompaniment of a guitar.

A number of workmen and work-girls stood round listening to themusic. Jean slipped into the circle, urged by the instinct thatdraws a stroller with nothing to do to the neighbourhood of lightand noise and that love of a crowd which is characteristic ofyour Parisian. More isolated⁵ in the press, more alone than ever,he stood dreaming of the splendour and passion of some nobletragedy of Euripides or Shakespeare. It was some time before henoticed something soft touching⁶ and pressing against him frombehind. He turned round and saw a work-girl in a little blackhat with blue ribbons. She was young and pretty enough, but hismind was fixed⁷ on the awe-inspiring and superhuman graces ofan Electra or a Lady Macbeth. She went on nuzzling against hisback till he looked round again.

"Monsieur," she said then; "will you just let me slip in frontof you? I am so little; I shan't stop your seeing."She had a nice voice. The poise⁸ of her head, lifted and thrownback on a plump neck, showed a pair of bright eyes and good teethbetween pouting⁹ lips. She glided¹⁰, merry and alert, into the placeJean made for her without a word.

The man with the guitar sang a ballad² about caged birds and blossomsin flower-pots.

"_Mine_," observed the work-girl to Jean, "are carnations¹¹, andI have birds too--canaries they are."At the moment he was thinking of some fair-faced chatelaine roamingunder the battlements of a donjon.

The work-girl went on:

"I have a pair,--you understand, to keep each other company. Twois a nice number, don't you think so?"He marched off with his visions under the old trees of the Avenue.

After a turn or two up and down, he espied¹² the little work-girlhanging on the arm of a handsome young fellow, fashionably dressed,wearing a heavy gold watch-chain. Her admirer was catching¹³ herby the waist in the dusk of the trees, and she was laughing.

Then Jean Servien felt sorry he had scorned her advances.

1 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

2 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

3 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

4 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

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 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

9 pouting   

v.撅（嘴）( pout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The child sat there pouting. 那孩子坐在那儿，一副不高兴的样子。 来自辞典例句
• She was almost pouting at his hesitation. 她几乎要为他这种犹犹豫豫的态度不高兴了。 来自辞典例句

10 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 carnations   

n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You should also include some carnations to emphasize your underlying meaning.\" 另外要配上石竹花来加重这涵意的力量。” 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Five men per ha. were required for rose production, 6 or 7 men for carnations. 种植玫瑰每公顷需5个男劳力，香石竹需6、7个男劳力。 来自辞典例句

12 espied   

v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• One day a youth espied her as he was hunting.She saw him and recognized him as her own son, mow grown a young man. 一日，她被一个正在行猎的小伙子看见了，她认出来这个猎手原来是自己的儿子，现在已长成为一个翩翩的少年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a little while he espied the two giants. 一会儿就看见了那两个巨人。 来自辞典例句

13 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。