At last her sister Connie found her, sitting white and miserable12 on her very small trunk, clutching her imitation-silver coin-purse. Connie had been in New York for a couple of years, and it gave her a homesick throb13 to see that coin-purse—one of those little metal pocketbooks with slots to hold gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns. Father Daly had given it to Judy, years ago, but it had never had gold in the little sockets14 until Connie sent over the passage money to bring Judy to New York.
The city flashed by like a current-events film. Judy found herself in a friendly lodging-house in Brooklyn, kept by an Irishwoman who had been kind to Connie. Her sister then explained matters. Her own employers, with whom she had a position too good to abandon, had arranged to go South for the latter part of the winter. They had already delayed leaving so that Connie could meet her sister and get her settled. They had given Connie a few days' holiday for that purpose.
Therefore Judy must get a place as soon as possible. And that very afternoon the sisters (Judy still in a kind of dreadful dream) went to the office of a Brooklyn newspaper to insert an advertisement.
A great many people were watching the Situations Wanted columns, and the next evening, at supper-time, Mrs. Leland called up the lodging-house number, which had been given in the ad. Connie went to the telephone. Mrs. Leland had a pleasant voice and “talked like gentry”, Connie said. She lived in Heathwood, Long Island, which is some twenty miles from town, and wanted a nurse to take care of two children. Connie agreed to take Judy out to Heathwood the next morning, to see if they could come to terms. Judy was inexperienced, but Mrs. Leland liked her looks. In short: by the time Judy had been in America three days, she was installed at Mrs. Leland's home in the country; and a few days later Connie had gone off to Florida.
Now Judy was really very fortunate in these random15 proceedings16, for she had found a good home under an exceptionally kind and understanding mistress. And therefore perhaps it was unreasonable17 of her to be so unhappy. But no one has ever demonstrated that human affairs are much controlled by reason. Judy was dumbly and piteously miserable. She was homesick and lonely, and half-mad with strangeness. She was not really slow-witted; but the confusion of her spirits put her into a kind of black stupor18. Everything was uncouth19 to her: steam heat, electric light, gas-stove, telephone—even the alarm clock in her bedroom. Not knowing how to turn off her radiator20, and having the simple person's distrust of opening windows in a strange place, the first few nights she was sick with heat and suffocation21. In her sleep she cried out indistinguishable words about being shot. In spite of Mrs. Leland's patient tuition, she made every possible kind of mistake. The children, with the quickness of youth, realized her inexperience and uncertainty22, and played a thousand impish pranks23. Mrs. Leland could see that the girl had been through distresses25 at home, and kept the evening papers, with their headlines about Ireland, out of sight. But one evening, in the kitchen, Judy came upon a Sunday rotogravure section with pictures of burnt streets in Cork26. The look of the people in those photographs went through her heart. The men wearing caps, the women in shawls, something even in the shape of trouser legs and heavy shoes, reminded Judy how far she was from all that she understood. It's the little things you take for granted at home that come back to hurt you when you're away. That night, sitting in her bedroom next the nursery, she shook herself ill with sobs27.
One who might have helped her greatly took pains to add to her bewilderment. Hattie, Mrs. Leland's coloured cook, a retainer of long standing, was sharply disgruntled at this new addition to the household. Jealousy28 was the root of Hattie's irritation29, and it shot up a rapid foliage30 of poison ivy31. The previous nurse, a bosom32 friend of Hattie's own race, had been discharged in December for incompetence33. Moreover, Hattie had not forgotten poor na?ve Judy's startled look when they first encountered. Judy had hardly seen a coloured person before, and was honestly alarmed. Hattie, though loyal to Mrs. Leland in her own primitive34 fashion, deeply resented this interloper. The invasion proved that Mrs. Leland was no longer entirely35 dependent on the particular clique36 of Heathwood coloured society in which Hattie moved. The cook's logic37 was narrow but rigorous. The sooner the intruder could be discouraged out of the house, the sooner the Black Hussars (as Heathwood ladies called the coloured colony on whom they largely relied for assistance) would resume undivided sway. Mrs. Leland had had a Polish girl as a stop-gap for a few days after the coloured nurse left; and observing the cook's demeanour toward this unfortunate, Mr. Leland had remarked that Hattie was working for a black Christmas.
So Hattie, who was sharp-tongued and very capable, hectored Judy whenever she entered the kitchen, and by all the black arts at her command (which were many) added to the girl's distress24. Judy, in spite of her mistress's kindness, grew more and more wretched. As Mr. Leland said in private (pursuing the train of his previous pun), the maids were black and blue. Mrs. Leland, much goaded38 by domestic management and the care of a very small baby, began to wonder whether she had not added another child to look after rather than lightening her burdens. And then she saw that Judy was on the verge39 of nervous collapse40. She tried to hearten the girl by giving her an extra holiday. Judy was given some money, packed off to the station in a taxi, and sent on her maiden41 trip to town in the hope that city sights and shop windows would revive her interest in life. Mrs. Flaherty, the lodging-house lady in Brooklyn, was telephoned to, and promised to send her small boy to meet the girl at the station.
It happened to be the eve of the genial42 Saint Valentine's Day. Shop windows were gay with pleasantly exaggerated symbols of his romantic power. Winter afternoons in the city are cruel to the unfortunate, for the throng43 of the streets the light and lure44 of the scene, make loneliness all the worse if there is trouble in your heart.
Judy sat in the waiting room of the Long Island terminal in Brooklyn, and tears were on her face. She had somehow missed Mrs. Flaherty's lad. Then she had tried to find her way to the lodging-house, but grew more and more frightened and bewildered as she strayed. Giving that up, she had gone into a movie, and there, for a while, she had been happy. The favourites of the screen are the true internationalists: they speak a language, crude though it often is, which is known from Brooklyn to Bombay. But then pictures were shown of scenes in Ireland. She came out with cold hands, and wandered vaguely45 along the streets until dusk. Finally, in despair, she groped back to the station at Flatbush Avenue, and sat forlornly on a bench, too weary and sorry even to ask how to get home.
With the unerring instinct of the stranger for choosing the wrong place, she had blundered into the downstairs station, by the train-gates, missing the waiting room above where departures are duly announced by orotund46 men in blue and silver. In that chilly47 cavern48 she sat, dumbly watching the press of homeward commuters laden50 with parcels and papers. Red signboards clattered51 up and down over the iron gates, and she puzzled doubtfully over such names as Speonk, and Far Rockaway. The last somehow recalled a nursery rhyme and made her feel even more lost and homesick. Occasionally, with a gentle groan52 and rumble53, an electric train slid up to the railing and stared at her with two fierce hostile eyes. The soda54 fountain in the corner was doing a big business: timidly she went over, feeling cold, and asked for tea. To her amazement55, there were no hot drinks to be had. The people, all gulping56 iced mixtures, stared at her curiously57. Sure, this is a mad country, she thought. The clock telling the time was the only thing she could properly understand.
So it was the clock, at last, that brought her to startled action. It was getting late. A tall, good-looking fellow in a blue uniform came out of a room at the back of the station, carrying two lighted lanterns. He halted not far from where she was sitting, and compared his watch with the Western union clock. Of all the hundreds she had seen, he was the first who looked easily questionable58. With a sudden impulse Judy got up, clutching her coin-purse.
“Heathwood? The 6:18 makes Heathwood. Right over there, the gate's just opening. Change at Jamaica.”
He looked down at her, wondering but kindly60. He was puzzled at the frightened way she was staring at his coat-collar; he could hardly have guessed that to wet eyes the embroidered61 letters had at first seemed to be liar9. Her puny62, pinched face was streaked63 with tears, the red knitted muffler made her pallor even whiter. The little imitation fur trimmings on her coat sleeves and collar were worn and shabby.
“Thank you,” she said, blindly, and started off for the wrong gate.
“Hey!” he called, and overtook her in a few long strides. “This way, miss. Got your ticket?”
In a sudden panic she opened her purse, and could not find it.
“Oh, surely I've lost it,” she cried. “Where's the booking office?”
“The booking office?” he said. “D'you mean the news-stand? Here you are.” He picked up the ticket, which she had dropped in her nervousness.
“That's all right,” he said, encouragingly. “This train, over here. I'm one of the crew. I'll see you get there. Don't worry.”
He escorted her through the gate, and found her a seat on the train, beside a stout64 commuter49 half buried in parcels.
“Now you stay right here,” he said. “I'll tell you when we get to Jamaica, and show you the Heathwood train.” He smiled genially65, and left her.
Judy got out her wet handkerchief and wiped her face. As the train ran through the tunnel, she wished she had been on the inside of the seat, for the dark window would have been useful as a mirror. “He saw me crying,” she kept repeating to herself. The man beside her blanketed himself with a newspaper, and the pile of packages on his knees kept sliding over onto her lap, but she was oblivious66. She was thinking of the tall man in blue with the queer cap. How kind he had been. The first real kindness she had met in all that nightmare afternoon.
Presently he came through the car. She could see him far down the aisle67, leaning courteously68 over each seat. At first she thought he was just saying a friendly word to all the passengers. Sure, that's like him, she said to herself: he has a grand way with him. Then she saw that he was punching tickets with a silver clipper. Glory, it's the Guard himself, she thought. I wonder will he speak to me again?
The man beside her thrust an arm out from his mass of bundles and held a large oblong of red-striped cardboard across in front of her face. This reminded Judy of her own ticket, which was so different from her neighbour's that she worried for a moment lest it should not be valid69. Here was her friend, bending above her with a smile.
“Everything all right?” he said. “The next stop's Jamaica. That's where you get off. Watch for me at this door, and I'll show you the Heath-wood train.” Click, click: the two tickets were punched, and he went on. Judy shut up her coin purse with a snap, and began to notice the hat worn by the lady in the seat in front.
At Jamaica she found him in the vestibule, his head overtopping the pushing crowd. “This way,” he said, and led her quickly across the platform. “Jack70,” he said to the brakeman on the other train, “tell this lady when you get to Heathwood.”
“Well, Judy,” said Mrs. Leland when her nursemaid got back to the house. “How much better you look! Did you have a good time?”
“Oh, a grand time,” said Judy. Her face had a touch of colour and indeed even her awkward bog-trotting gait seemed lighter71 and more sprightly72. “That's good,” said her mistress. “You'd better run down and get some supper before Hattie puts everything away. You can put Jack to bed after you've had something to eat.”
“Pretty late for supper,” grumbled73 Hattie, as Judy came into the kitchen. “Doan' you think I got nothing to do but wait on you?”
“I'll get my own supper,” said Judy, politely. “Don't you bother.”
“You've got a head on your shoulders,” said Hattie, banging some dishes on to the kitchen table. “Whyn't you use it and get back on time?”
“The black banshee's up in arms again,” said Judy to herself. “I'll hold my peace.”
“That's the trouble with foreigners,” growled74 Hattie. “They ain't got no sense. These Irish micks come over here, puttin' on airs, where nobody wants 'em.”
“Ah, nabocklish!” she said. “There's somebody loves me, at any rate.”
She hurried through supper, and ran upstairs to put Jack to bed. The six-year-old was amusing himself by snapping open and shut something that gleamed in the lamplight.
“Here!” she said. “What are you doing with Judy's purse?”
Jack looked up in surprise. It was the first time that he had heard that note of command in the meek76 Judy's voice.
“I found it on your bureau,” he said.
“Well, leave it be, darlin'.” She took it from him. “Glory above, what's become of——?”
She fell on her knees on the floor and began searching.
“Ah, here, 'tis!” she cried, gladly. From the rug she picked up a tiny red cardboard heart, and replaced it carefully in one of the sockets of her purse.
“What is it?” said Jack, yawning.
“Sure, it's my Valentine!” said Judy. “It ain't many girls that gets a Valentine from a big handsome man like that the first time he sees them.”
I have often wondered how many of the Long Island trainmen use a heart-shaped punch.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
numb
|
|
| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
daze
|
|
| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pier
|
|
| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
esteem
|
|
| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
liar
|
|
| n.说谎的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
patriot
|
|
| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
tribulations
|
|
| n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 )；艰难；苦难的缘由；痛苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
throb
|
|
| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sockets
|
|
| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
random
|
|
| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
proceedings
|
|
| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
stupor
|
|
| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
uncouth
|
|
| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
radiator
|
|
| n.暖气片，散热器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
suffocation
|
|
| n.窒息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
uncertainty
|
|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
pranks
|
|
| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
distresses
|
|
| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
cork
|
|
| n.软木，软木塞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sobs
|
|
| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
ivy
|
|
| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
incompetence
|
|
| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
primitive
|
|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
clique
|
|
| n.朋党派系，小集团 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
goaded
|
|
| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
verge
|
|
| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
collapse
|
|
| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lure
|
|
| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
orotund
|
|
| adj.宏亮的，宏壮的；浮夸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
chilly
|
|
| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
cavern
|
|
| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
commuter
|
|
| n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
clattered
|
|
| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
groan
|
|
| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
rumble
|
|
| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
soda
|
|
| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
gulping
|
|
| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
questionable
|
|
| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
nervously
|
|
| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
embroidered
|
|
| adj．绣花的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
puny
|
|
| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
streaked
|
|
| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
genially
|
|
| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
oblivious
|
|
| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
aisle
|
|
| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
valid
|
|
| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
lighter
|
|
| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
sprightly
|
|
| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
tint
|
|
| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
meek
|
|
| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |