The village of Kings is tucked away in Long Island, in the Debatable Land where the generous boundary of New York City zigzags4 in a sporting way just to permit horse racing5 at Belmont Park. It is the most rustic6 corner of the City. To most New Yorkers it is as remote as Helgoland and as little known. It has no movie theatre, no news-stand, no cigar store, no village atheist7. The railroad station, where one hundred and fifty trains a day do not stop, might well be mistaken for a Buddhist8 shrine9, so steeped in discreet10 melancholy11 is it. The Fire Department consists of an old hose wagon12 first used to extinguish fires kindled13 by the Republicans when Rutherford B. Hayes was elected. In the weather-beaten Kings Lyceum "East Lynne" is still performed once a year. People who find Quoguc and Cohasset too exciting, move to Kings to cool off. The only way one can keep servants out there is by having the works of Harold Bell Wright in the kitchen for the cook to read.
Stout-hearted Mr. Schulz came to Kings long ago. There is quite a little German colony there. With a delicatessen store on one side of him and a man who played the flute14 on the other, he felt hardly at all expatriated. The public house on the corner serves excellent Rheingold, and on winter evenings Friedrich and Minna would sit by the stove at the back of the drugstore with a jug15 of amber16 on the table and dream of Stuttgart.
It did not take me long to find out that apothecary17 Schulz was an educated man. At the rear of the store hung two diplomas of which he was very proud. One was a certificate from the Stuttgart Oberrealschule; the other his license18 to practise homicidal pharmacy19 in the German Empire, dated 1880. He had read the "Kritik der reinen Vernunft", and found it more interesting than Henry James, he told me. Julia and I used to drop into his shop of an evening for a mug of hot chocolate, and always fell into talk. His Minna, a frail20 little woman with a shawl round her shoulders, would come out into the store and talk to us, too, and their pet dachshund would frolic at our feet. They were a quaint21 couple, she so white and shy and fragile; he ruddy, sturdy, and positive.
It was not till I told him of my years spent at a German University that he really showed me the life that lay behind his shopman activity. We sometimes talked German together, and he took me into their little sitting room to see his photographs of home scenes at Stuttgart. It was over thirty years since he had seen German soil, but still his eyes would sparkle at the thought. He and Minna, being childless, dreamed of a return to the Fatherland as their great end in life.
What an alluring23 place the little drugstore was! I was fascinated by the rows and rows of gleaming bottles labelled with mysterious Latin abbreviations. There were cases of patent remedies—Mexican Mustang Liniment, Swamp Root, Danderine, Conway's Cobalt Pills, Father Finch's Febrifuge, Spencer's Spanish Specific. Soap, talcum, cold cream, marshmallows, tobacco, jars of rock candy, what a medley24 of paternostrums! And old Rhubarb himself, in his enormous baggy25 trousers—infinite breeches in a little room, as Julia used to say.
I wish I could set him down in all his rich human flavour. The first impression he gave was one of cleanness and good humour. He was always in shirtsleeves, with suspenders forming an X across his broad back; his shirt was fresh laundered26, his glowing beard served as cravat27. He had a slow, rather ponderous28 speech, with deep gurgling gutturals and a decrescendo laugh, slipping farther and farther down into his larynx. Once, when we got to know each other fairly well, I ventured some harmless jest about Barbarossa. He chuckled30; then his face grew grave. "I wish Minna could have the beard," he said. "Her chest is not strong. It would be a fine breast-protector for her. But me, because I am strong like a horse, I have it all!" He thumped31 his chest ruefully with his broad, thick hand.
Despite his thirty years in America, good Schulz was still the Deutsche Apotheker and not at all the American druggist. He had installed a soda32 fountain as a concession33, but it puzzled him sorely, and if he was asked for anything more complex than chocolate ice cream soda he would shake his head solemnly and say: "That I have not got." Motorists sometimes turned off the Jericho turnpike and stopped at his shop asking for banana splits or grape juice highballs, or frosted pineapple fizz. But they had to take chocolate ice cream soda or nothing. Sometimes in a fit of absent-mindedness he would turn his taps too hard and the charged water would spout34 across the imitation marble counter. He would wag his beard deprecatingly and mutter a shamefaced apology, smiling again when the little black dachshund came trotting35 to sniff36 at the spilt soda and rasp the wet floor with her bright tongue.
At the end of September he shut up the soda fountain gladly, piling it high with bars of castile soap or cartons of cod37 liver oil. Then Minna entered into her glory as the dispenser of hot chocolate which seethed38 and sang in a tall silvery tank with a blue gas burner underneath39. This she served in thick china mugs with a clot40 of whipped cream swimming on top. Julia would buy a box of the cheese crackers41 that Schulz kept in stock specially42 for her, and give several to the sleek43 little black bitch that stood pleading with her quaint turned-out fore-feet placed on Julia's slippers44. Schulz, beaming serenely45 behind a pyramid of "intense carnation46" bottles on his perfume counter, would chuckle29 at the antics of his pet. "Ah, he is a wise little dog!" he would exclaim with na?ve pride. "He knows who is friendly!" He always called the little dog "he," which amused us.
On Sunday afternoon the drugstore was closed from one to five, and during those hours Schulz took his weekly walk, accompanied by the dog which plodded47 desperately48 after him on her short legs. Sometimes we met him swinging along the by-roads, flourishing a cudgel and humming to himself. Whenever he saw a motor coming he halted, the little black dachshund would look up at him, and he would stoop ponderously49 down, pick her up and carry her in his arms until all danger was past.
As the time went on he and I used to talk a good deal about the war. Minna, pale and weary, would stand behind her steaming urn22, keeping the shawl tight round her shoulders; Rhubarb and I would argue without heat upon the latest news from the war zone. I had no zeal50 for converting the old fellow from his views; I understood his sympathies and respected them. Reports of atrocities51 troubled him as much as they did me; but the spine52 of his contention53 was that the German army was unbeatable. He got out his faded discharge ticket from the Würtemberger Landsturm to show the perfect system of the Imperial military organization. In his desk at the back of the shop he kept a war map cut from a Sunday supplement and over this we would argue, Schulz breathing hard and holding his beard aside in one hand as he bent54 over the paper. When other customers came in, he would put the map away with a twinkle, and the topic was dropped. But often the glass top of the perfume counter was requisitioned as a large-scale battleground, and the pink bottle of rose water set to represent Von Hindenburg while the green phial of smelling salts was Joffre or Brussilov. We fought out the battle of the Marne pretty completely on the perfume counter. "Warte doch!" he would cry. "Just wait! You will see! All the world is against her, but Germany will win!"
Poor Minna was always afraid her husband and I would quarrel. She knew well how opposite our sympathies were; she could not understand that our arguments were wholly lacking in personal animus55. When I told him of the Allies' growing superiority in aircraft Rhubarb would retort by showing me clippings about the German trench56 fortifications, the "pill boxes" made of solid cement. I would speak of the deadly curtain fire of the British; he would counter with mysterious allusions57 to Krupp. And his conclusions were always the same. "Just wait! Germany will win!" And he would stroke his beard placidly58. "But, Fritz!" Minna used to cry in a panic, "The gentleman might think differently!" Rhubarb and I would grin at each other, I would buy a tin of tobacco, and we would say good night.
How dear is the plain, unvarnished human being when one sees him in a true light! Schulz's honest, kindly59 face seemed to me to typify all that I knew of the finer qualities of the Germans; the frugal60 simplicity61, the tenderness, the proud, stiff rectitude. He and I felt for each other, I think, something of the humorous friendliness62 of the men in the opposing trenches63. Chance had cast us on different sides of the matter. But when I felt tempted64 to see red, to condemn65 the Germans en masse, to chant litanies of hate, I used to go down to the drugstore for tobacco or a mug of chocolate. Rhubarb and I would argue it out.
But that was a hard winter for him. The growing anti-German sentiment in the neighbourhood reduced his business considerably66. Then he was worried over Minna. Often she did not appear in the evenings, and he would explain that she had gone to bed. I was all the more surprised to meet her one very snowy Sunday afternoon, sloshing along the road in the liquid mire67, the little dog squattering sadly behind, her small black paws sliding on the ice-crusted paving. "What on earth are you doing outdoors on a day like this?" I said.
"Fritz had to go to Brooklyn, and I thought he would be angry if Lischen didn't get her airing."
Soon after that I had to go away for three weeks. I was snowbound in Massachusetts for several days; then I had to go to Montreal on urgent business. Julia went to the city to visit her mother while I was away, so we had no news from Kings.
We got back late one Sunday evening. The plumbing69 had frozen in our absence; when I lit the furnace again, pipes began to thaw70 and for an hour or so we had a lively time. In the course of a battle with a pipe and a monkey wrench71 I sprained72 a thumb, and the next morning I stopped at the drugstore on my way to the train to get some iodine73.
Rhubarb was at his prescription2 counter weighing a little cone74 of white powder in his apothecary's scales. He looked far from well. There were great pouches75 under his eyes; his beard was unkempt; his waistcoat spotted76 with food stains. The lady waiting received her package, and went out. Rhubarb and I grasped hands.
"Well," I said, "what do you think now about the war? Did you see that the Canadians took a mile of trenches five hundred yards deep last week? Do you still think Germany will win?" To my surprise he turned on his heel and began apparently77 rummaging78 along a row of glass jars. His gaze seemed to be fastened upon a tall bottle containing ethyl alcohol. At last he turned round. His broad, na?ve face was quivering like blanc-mange.
"What do I care who wins?" he said. "What does it matter to me any more? Minna is dead. She died two weeks ago of pneumonia79."
As I stood, not knowing what to say, there was a patter along the floor. The little dachshund came scampering80 into the shop and frisked about my feet.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
prescriptions
|
|
| 药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prescription
|
|
| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
potency
|
|
| n. 效力，潜能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
zigzags
|
|
| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
rustic
|
|
| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
atheist
|
|
| n.无神论者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
Buddhist
|
|
| adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
shrine
|
|
| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
discreet
|
|
| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
flute
|
|
| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
jug
|
|
| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
amber
|
|
| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
apothecary
|
|
| n.药剂师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
license
|
|
| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
pharmacy
|
|
| n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
frail
|
|
| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
quaint
|
|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
urn
|
|
| n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
alluring
|
|
| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
medley
|
|
| n.混合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
baggy
|
|
| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
laundered
|
|
| v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的过去式和过去分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
cravat
|
|
| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
chuckle
|
|
| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
thumped
|
|
| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
soda
|
|
| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
concession
|
|
| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
spout
|
|
| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
trotting
|
|
| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
sniff
|
|
| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
cod
|
|
| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
seethed
|
|
| （液体）沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
clot
|
|
| n.凝块；v.使凝成块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
crackers
|
|
| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
specially
|
|
| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
sleek
|
|
| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
slippers
|
|
| n. 拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
serenely
|
|
| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
carnation
|
|
| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
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： |
|
|
|
|
48
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
ponderously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
atrocities
|
|
| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
spine
|
|
| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
contention
|
|
| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
animus
|
|
| n.恶意；意图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
trench
|
|
| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
allusions
|
|
| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
frugal
|
|
| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
friendliness
|
|
| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
trenches
|
|
| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
condemn
|
|
| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
mire
|
|
| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
plumbing
|
|
| n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
thaw
|
|
| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
wrench
|
|
| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
sprained
|
|
| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
iodine
|
|
| n.碘，碘酒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
cone
|
|
| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
pouches
|
|
| n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
rummaging
|
|
| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
pneumonia
|
|
| n.肺炎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
scampering
|
|
| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |