Chapter 25

 Little by little the boys wearied of this insubordination, theirimaginations proving unequal to the invention of any new formsof mischief¹. Even de Grizolles himself left off shooting beans.

Instead, he conceived the notion of brewing² chocolate insidehis desk with a spirit-lamp and a silver patty-pan. Jean lefthim in peace and reopened his Sophocles with a sigh of relief.

But the Superintendent³, going by in the court, caught a smell ofcooking, searched the desks and unearthed⁴ the patty-pan, which heoffered, still warm, for the Reverend the Director's inspection,with the words: "There! that's what goes on in Monsieur Servien'sclass-room." The Director slapped his forehead, declared theywould be the death of him and ordered the patty-pan to be restoredto its owner. Then he sent for the Assistant in charge andadministered a severe reprimand, because he believed it to behis bounden duty to do so.

The next day was a whole holiday, and Jean went to spend theday at his father's. The latter asked him if he was ready forhis professorial examination.

"My lad," he adjured⁵ him, "be quick and find a good post if youwant me to see you in it. One of these days your aunt and I willbe going out at yonder door feet foremost. The old lady had afit of dizziness last week on the stairs. _I_ am not ill, butI can feel I am worn out. I have done a hard life's work in theworld."He looked at his tools, and walked away, a bent⁶ old man!

Then Jean gathered up in both hands the old work-worn tools, allpolished with use, scissors, punches, knives, folders⁷, scrapers,and kissed them, the tears running down his cheeks.

At that moment his aunt came in, looking for her spectacles.

Furtively⁸, in a whisper, she asked him for a little money. Inold days she used to save the halfpence to slip them into the"little lad's " hand; now, grown feebler than the child, shetrembled at the idea of destitution⁹; she hoarded¹⁰, and asked charityof the priests. The fact is, her wits were weakening. Very oftenshe would inform her brother that she did not mean to let theweek pass without going to see the Brideaus. Now the Brideaus,jobbing tailors at Montrouge in their lifetime, had been dead,both husband and wife, for the last two years. Jean gave her alouis, which she took with a delight so ugly to see that thepoor lad took refuge out of doors.

Presently, without quite knowing how, he found himself on the_Quai_ near the _Pont d'Iéna_. It was a bright day, but thegloomy walls of the houses and the grey look of the river banksseemed to proclaim that life is hard and cruel. Out in thestream a dredger, all drab with marl, was discharging one afterthe other its bucket-fuls of miry gravel¹¹. By the waterside astout oaken crane was unloading millstones, wheeling backwardsand forwards on its axis¹². Under the parapet, near the bridge,an old dame¹³ with a copper-red face sat knitting stockings asshe waited for customers to buy her apple-puffs.

Jean Servien thought of his childhood; many a time had his aunttaken him to the same spot, many a time had they watched togetherthe dredger hauling aboard, bucketful by bucketful, the muddydregs of the river. Very often his aunt had stopped to exchangeideas with the old stallkeeper, while he examined the counterwhich was spread with a napkin, the carafe¹⁴ of liquorice-waterthat stood on it, and the lemon that served as stopper. Nothingwas changed, neither the dredger, nor the rafts of timber, northe old woman, nor the four ponderous¹⁵ stallions at either endof the _Pont d'Iéna_.

Yes, Jean Servien could hear the trees along the _Quai_, thewaters of the river, the very stones of the parapet calling tohim:

"We know you; you are the little boy his aunt, in a peasant'scap, used to bring here to see us in former days. But we shallnever see your aunt again, nor her print shawl, nor her umbrellawhich she opened against the sun; for she is old now and doesnot take her nephew walks any more, for he is a grown man now.

Yes, the child is grown into a man and has been hurt by life,while he was running after shadows."

1 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

2 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

3 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。

4 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

5 adjured   

v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求

参考例句：

• He adjured them to tell the truth. 他要求他们讲真话。
• The guides now adjured us to keep the strictest silence. 这时向导恳求我们保持绝对寂静。 来自辞典例句

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 folders   

n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠

参考例句：

• Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑，高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
• By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本，不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句

8 furtively   

adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地

参考例句：

• At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说，有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
• Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在，他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。

9 destitution   

n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷

参考例句：

• The people lived in destitution. 民生凋敝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His drinking led him to a life of destitution. 酗酒导致他生活贫穷。 来自辞典例句

10 hoarded   

v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It owned great properties and often hoarded huge treasures. 它拥有庞大的财产，同时往往窖藏巨额的财宝。 来自辞典例句
• Sylvia among them, good-naturedly applaud so much long-hoarded treasure of useless knowing. 西尔维亚也在他们中间，为那些长期珍藏的无用知识，友好地、起劲地鼓掌。 来自互联网

11 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

12 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

13 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。

14 carafe   

n.玻璃水瓶

参考例句：

• She lifted the stopper from the carafe.她拔出玻璃酒瓶上的瓶塞。
• He ordered a carafe of wine.他要了一瓶葡萄酒。

15 ponderous   

adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的

参考例句：

• His steps were heavy and ponderous.他的步伐沉重缓慢。
• It was easy to underestimate him because of his occasionally ponderous manner.由于他偶尔现出的沉闷的姿态，很容易使人小看了他。