Chapter 23

 The Superintendent¹, with his large, flat face and the sly waysof a peasant turned monk², was a constant thorn in Jean's side.

"_Be firm, be firm, sir_," was his parable³ every day, andhe never missed an opportunity of doing the usher⁴ an ill turnwith the Director.

The early days of Jean's servitude had slipped by in an enervatingmonotony. With his quiet ways, tactful temper and air of kindlyaloofness, he was popular with the more sensible boys, whilethe others left him in peace, as he did them. But there was oneexception; Henri de Grizolles, a handsome young savage⁵, proudof his aristocratic name, which he scribbled⁶ in big letters onhis light trousers, and overjoyed at the chance of hurting aninferior's feelings, had from the very first day declared waragainst the poor usher. He used to empty ink-bottles into hisdesk, stick cobbler's wax on his chair, and let off crackersin the middle of school.

Hearing the disturbance⁷, the Superintendent would march in withthe airs of a Police Inspector⁸ and bid Jean: "_Be firm, sir!

be firm!_"Far from taking his advice, Jean affected⁹ an excessive easiness oftemper. One day he caught a boy in the act of drawing a caricatureof himself; he picked it up and glanced at it, then handed itback to the artist with a shrug¹⁰ of the shoulders.

Such mildness was misconstrued and only weakened his authority.

The usher's miseries¹¹ grew acute, and he lost the patience thatalleviated his sufferings. He could not put up with the lads'

restlessness, their happy laughter and light-hearted enjoymentof life. He showed temper, venting¹² his spite on mere¹³ acts ofthoughtlessness or simple ebullitions of high spirits. Then he wouldfall into a sort of torpor¹⁴. He had long fits of absentmindedness,during which he was deaf to every noise. It became the fashionto keep birds, plait nets, shoot arrows, and crow like a cockin Monsieur Jean Servien's class-room. Even the boys from otherdivisions would slip out of their own classrooms to peep in atthe windows of this one, about which such amazing stories weretold, and the ceiling of which was decorated with little figuresswinging at the end of a string stuck to the plaster with chewedpaper.

De Grizolles had installed a regular Roman catapult for shootingkidney-beans at the usher's head.

Jean would drive the young gentleman out of the room. TheSuperintendent of Studies would reinstate him, only to be turnedout again. And each time meant a fresh report to the Director.

The Abbé Bordier, who never found patience to hear the worthySuperintendent out to the end, could only throw up his hands toheaven and declare they would be the death of him between them.

But the impression became fixed¹⁵ in his mind that the Assistantin charge of the _Remove_ was a source of trouble.

1 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

2 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

3 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

4 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

5 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

6 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

7 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

8 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

11 miseries   

n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人

参考例句：

• They forgot all their fears and all their miseries in an instant. 他们马上忘记了一切恐惧和痛苦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I'm suffering the miseries of unemployment. 我正为失业而痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

13 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

14 torpor   

n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠

参考例句：

• The sick person gradually falls into a torpor.病人逐渐变得迟钝。
• He fell into a deep torpor.他一下子进入了深度麻痹状态。

15 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。