Having just moved our household goods for the fourth time in four years, we now find ourself in the singular state of trying to believe that the horrors of the event have added to our supply of spiritual resignation. Well, let us see.
The brutal3 task of taking one's home on trek4 is (we[Pg 43] can argue) a stirring tonic5, a kind of private rehearsal6 of the Last Judgment7, when the sheep shall be divided from the shoats. What could be a more convincing reminder8 of the instability of man's affairs than the harrowing upheaval9 of our cherished properties? Those dark angels, the moving men, how heartless they seem in their brisk and resolute10 dispassion—yet how exactly they prefigure the implacable sternness of the ultimate shepherds. A strange life is theirs, taking them day after day into the bosom11 of homes prostrated12 by the emigrating throe. Does this matter-of-fact bearing conceal13 an infinite tenderness, a pity that dare not show itself for fear of unmanly collapse14? Are they secretly broken by the sight of the desolate15 nursery, the dismantled16 crib, the forgotten clockwork monkey lying in a corner of the cupboard where the helpless Urchin17 laid it with care before he and his smaller sister were deported18, to be out of the way in the final storm? Does the o'ermastering pathos19 of a modest household turned inside out, its tender vitals displayed to the passing world, wring20 their breasts? Stoic21 men, if so, they well conceal their pangs22.
They have one hopelessly at a disadvantage. In the interval23 that always elapses before the arrival of the second van, there is a little social chat and utterance24 of reminiscences. There is a lively snapping of matchheads on thumbnails, and seated at ease in the débris of the dismantled living room our friends will[Pg 44] tell of the splendour of some households they have moved before. The thirty-eight barrels of gilt25 porcelain26, the twenty cases of oil paintings, the satin-wood grand piano that their spines27 twinge to recall. Once our furnitures were moved by a crew of lusty athletes who had previously28 done the same for Mr. Ivy29 Lee, and while we sat in shamed silence we heard the tale of Mr. Lee's noble possessions. Of what avail would it have been for us to protest that we love our stuff as much as Mr. Lee did his? No, we had a horrid30 impulse to cry apology, and beg them to hurl31 the things into the van anyhow, just to end the agony.
This interval of social chat being prolonged by the blizzard32, the talk is likely to take a more ominous33 turn. We are told how, only last week, a sister van was hit by a train at a crossing and carried a hundred yards on the engine pilot. Two of the men were killed, though one of these lived from eleven o'clock Saturday morning until eleven o'clock Monday night. How, after hearing this, can one ask what happened to the furniture, even if one is indecent enough to think of it? Then one learns of another of the fleet, stalled in a drift on the way to Harrisburg, and hasn't been heard from for forty-eight hours. Sitting in subdued34 silence, one remembers something about “moving accidents by flood and field,” and thanks fortune that these pitiful oddments are only going to a storage warehouse35, not to be transported thence until the kindly36 season of spring.[Pg 45]
But packing for storage instead of for moving implies subtler and more painful anguishes37. Here indeed we have a tonic for the soul, for election must be made among one's belongings38: which are to be stored, and which to accompany? Take the subject of books for instance. Horrid hesitation39: can we subsist40 for four or five months on nothing but the “Oxford Book of English Verse” and Boswell's Johnson? Suppose we want to look up a quotation41, in those late hours of the night when all really worthwhile reading is done? Our memory is knitted with a wide mesh42. Suppose we want to be sure just what it was that Shakespeare said happened to him in his “sessions of sweet silent thought,” what are we going to do? We will have to fall back on the customary recourse of the minor43 poet—if you can't remember one of Shakespeare's sonnets44, at least you can write one of your own instead. Speaking of literature, it is a curious thing that the essayists have so neglected this topic of moving. It would be pleasant to know how the good and the great have faced this peculiarly terrible crisis of domestic affairs. When the Bard45 himself moved back to Stratford after his years in London, what did he think about it? How did he get all his papers packed up, and did he, in mere46 weariness, destroy the half-done manuscripts of plays? Charles Lamb moved round London a good deal; did he never write of his experience? We like to think of Emerson: did he ever move, and if so,[Pg 46] how did he behave when the fatal day came? Did he sit on a packing case and utter sepulchral47 aphorisms48? Think of Lord Bacon and how he would have crystallized the matter in a phrase.
Of course in bachelor days moving may be a huge lark49, a humorous escapade. We remember some high-spirited young men, three of them, who were moving their chattels50 from rooms on Twenty-first Street to a flat on Irving Place. Frugality51 was their necessary watchword, and they hired a pushcart52 in which to transport the dunnage. It was necessary to do this on Sunday, and one of the trio, more sensitive than the others, begged that they should rise and accomplish the public shame early in the morning, before the streets were alive. In particular, he begged, let the route be chosen to avoid a certain club on Gramercy Park where he had many friends, and where he was loath53 to be seen pushing his humble54 intimacies55. The others, scenting56 sport, and brazenly57 hardy58 of spirit, contrived59 to delay the start on one pretext60 or another until the middle of the forenoon. Then, by main force, ignoring his bitter protest, they impelled61 the staggering vehicle, grossly overloaded62, past the very door of the club my friend had wished to avoid. Here, by malicious63 inspiration, they tilted64 the wain to one side and strewed65 the paving with their property. They skipped nimbly round the corner, and with highly satisfactory laughter watched their blushing[Pg 47] partner labouring dismally66 to collect the fragments. Some of his friends issuing from the club lent a hand, and the joy of the conspirators68 was complete.
But to the family man, moving is no such airy picnic. Sadly he goes through the last dismal67 rites69 and sees the modest fragments of his dominion70 hustled71 toward the cold sepulture of a motor van. Before the toughened bearing of the hirelings he doubts what manner to assume. Shall he stand at the front door and exhort72 them to particular care with each sentimental73 item, crying “Be careful with that little chair; that's the one the Urchin uses when he eats his evening prunes74!” Or shall he adopt a gruesome sarcasm75, hoping to awe76 them by conveying the impression that even if the whole van should be splintered in collision, he can get more at the nearest department store? Whatever policy he adopts, they will not be much impressed. For, when we handed our gratuity77, not an ungenerous one, to the driver, asking him to divide it among the gang, we were startled to hear them burst into loud screams of mirth. We asked, grimly, the cause. It appeared that during the work one of our friends, apparently78 despairing of any pourboire appropriate to his own conceptions of reward, had sold his share of the tip to the driver for fifteen cents. We are not going to say how much he lost by so doing. But this gamble put the driver in such a good humour that we believe he will keep away from railroad crossings.
点击收听单词发音
1 spasm | |
n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作 | |
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2 fortifying | |
筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 ); 筑堡于; 增强; 强化(食品) | |
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3 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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4 trek | |
vi.作长途艰辛的旅行;n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
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5 tonic | |
n./adj.滋补品,补药,强身的,健体的 | |
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6 rehearsal | |
n.排练,排演;练习 | |
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7 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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8 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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9 upheaval | |
n.胀起,(地壳)的隆起;剧变,动乱 | |
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10 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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11 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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12 prostrated | |
v.使俯伏,使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 );(指疾病、天气等)使某人无能为力 | |
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13 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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14 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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15 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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16 dismantled | |
拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 ); 拆卸; 废除; 取消 | |
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17 urchin | |
n.顽童;海胆 | |
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18 deported | |
v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 );举止 | |
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19 pathos | |
n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
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20 wring | |
n.扭绞;v.拧,绞出,扭 | |
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21 stoic | |
n.坚忍克己之人,禁欲主义者 | |
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22 pangs | |
突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 ); 悲痛 | |
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23 interval | |
n.间隔,间距;幕间休息,中场休息 | |
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24 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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25 gilt | |
adj.镀金的;n.金边证券 | |
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26 porcelain | |
n.瓷;adj.瓷的,瓷制的 | |
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27 spines | |
n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 );脊椎;(动植物的)刺;书脊 | |
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28 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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29 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
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30 horrid | |
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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31 hurl | |
vt.猛投,力掷,声叫骂 | |
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32 blizzard | |
n.暴风雪 | |
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33 ominous | |
adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的 | |
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34 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35 warehouse | |
n.仓库;vt.存入仓库 | |
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36 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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37 anguishes | |
v.(尤指心理上的)极度的痛苦( anguish的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38 belongings | |
n.私人物品,私人财物 | |
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39 hesitation | |
n.犹豫,踌躇 | |
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40 subsist | |
vi.生存,存在,供养 | |
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41 quotation | |
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情 | |
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42 mesh | |
n.网孔,网丝,陷阱;vt.以网捕捉,啮合,匹配;vi.适合; [计算机]网络 | |
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43 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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44 sonnets | |
n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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45 bard | |
n.吟游诗人 | |
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46 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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47 sepulchral | |
adj.坟墓的,阴深的 | |
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48 aphorisms | |
格言,警句( aphorism的名词复数 ) | |
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49 lark | |
n.云雀,百灵鸟;n.嬉戏,玩笑;vi.嬉戏 | |
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50 chattels | |
n.动产,奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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51 frugality | |
n.节约,节俭 | |
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52 pushcart | |
n.手推车 | |
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53 loath | |
adj.不愿意的;勉强的 | |
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54 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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55 intimacies | |
亲密( intimacy的名词复数 ); 密切; 亲昵的言行; 性行为 | |
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56 scenting | |
vt.闻到(scent的现在分词形式) | |
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57 brazenly | |
adv.厚颜无耻地;厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地 | |
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58 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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59 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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60 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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61 impelled | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62 overloaded | |
a.超载的,超负荷的 | |
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63 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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64 tilted | |
v. 倾斜的 | |
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65 strewed | |
v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 );散落于;点缀;撒满 | |
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66 dismally | |
adv.阴暗地,沉闷地 | |
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67 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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68 conspirators | |
n.共谋者,阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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69 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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70 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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71 hustled | |
催促(hustle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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72 exhort | |
v.规劝,告诫 | |
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73 sentimental | |
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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74 prunes | |
n.西梅脯,西梅干( prune的名词复数 )v.修剪(树木等)( prune的第三人称单数 );精简某事物,除去某事物多余的部分 | |
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75 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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76 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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77 gratuity | |
n.赏钱,小费 | |
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78 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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