CHAPTER XL

 The thud of the fist, the grunt¹ of Bret’s effort, the shriek² of Sheila, the clatter³ of Eldon’s fall, the hubbub⁴ of the startled spectators, were all jumbled⁵.

 

When Eldon, dazed almost to unconsciousness, gathered himself together for self-defense and counter attack, the stage was revolving⁶ about him. Instinctively⁷ he put up 

 

his guard, clenched⁸ his right fist, and shifted clear of the table.

 

Then his anger flamed through his bewilderment. He realized who had struck him, and he dimly understood why. A blaze of rage against this foreigner, this vandal, shot 

 

up in his soul, and he advanced on Winfield with his arm drawn⁹ back. But he found Winfield struggling with Batterson and McNish, who had flung themselves on him, 

 

grappling his arms. Eldon stopped with his fists poised¹⁰. He could not strike that unprotected face, though it was gray with hatred¹¹ of him.

 

An instant he paused, then unclenched his hand and fell to straightening his collar and rubbing his stinging flesh. Sheila had run between the two men in a panic. All 

 

her thought was to protect her husband. Her eyes blazed against Eldon. He saw the look, and it hurt him worse than his other shame. He laughed bitterly into Bret’s 

 

face.

 

“We’re even now. I struck you when you didn’t expect it because you didn’t belong on the stage. You don’t belong here now. Get off! Get off or—God help you!”

 

This challenge infuriated Bret, and he made such violent effort to reach Eldon that Batterson, Prior, McNish, and an intensely interested and hopeful group of stage-

 

hands could hardly smother¹² his struggles. He bent¹³ and wrestled¹⁴ like the withed Samson, and his hatred for Eldon could find no word bitter enough but “You—you—you 

 

actor!”

 

Eldon laughed at this taunt¹⁵ and answered with equal contempt, “You thug—you business man!” Then, seeing how Sheila urged Bret away, how dismayed and frantic¹⁶ she 

 

was, he cried in Bret’s face: “You thought you struck me—but it was your wife you struck in the face!”

 

Sheila did not thank him for that pity. She silenced him with a glare, then turned again to her husband, put her arms about his arms, and clung to them with little 

 

fetters¹⁷ that he could not break for fear of hurting her. She laid her head on his breast and talked to his battling heart:

 

“Oh, Bret, Bret! honey, my love! Don’t, don’t! I can’t bear it! You’ll kill me if you fight any more!”

 

The fights of men and dogs are almost never carried to a finish. One surrenders or runs or a crowd interferes¹⁸.

 

Winfield felt all his strength leave him. His wife’s voice softened¹⁹ him; the triumph of his registered blow satisfied him to a surprising degree; the conspicuousness 

 

of his position disgusted him. He nodded his head and his captors let him go.

 

The reaction and the exhaustion²⁰ of wrath²¹ weakened him so that he could hardly stand, and Sheila supported him almost as much as he supported her.

 

And now Reben began on him. An outsider had invaded the sanctum of his stage, had attacked one of his people—an actor who had made good. Winfield had broken up the 

 

happy family of success with an omen²² of scandal.

 

Reben denounced him in a livid fury: “Why did you do it? Why? What right have you to come back here and slug one of my actors? Why? He is a gentleman! Your wife is a 

 

lady! Why should you be—what you are? You should apologize, you should!”

 

“Apologize!” Bret sneered²³, with all loathing²⁴ in his grin.

 

Eldon flared²⁵ at the look, but controlled himself. “He doesn’t owe me any apology. Let him apologize to his wife, if he has any decency²⁶ in him.”

 

He sat down on the table, but stood up again lest he appear weak. Again Sheila threw him a look of hatred. Then she began to coax²⁷ Winfield from the scene, whispering 

 

to him pleadingly and patting his arms soothingly²⁸:

 

“Come away, honey. Come away, please. They’re all staring. Don’t fight any more, please—oh, please, for my sake!”

 

He suffered her to lead him into the wings and through the labyrinth²⁹ to her dressing-room.

 

And now the stage was like a church at a funeral after the dead has been taken away. Everybody felt that Sheila was dead to the theater. The look in her eyes, her 

 

failure to rebuke³⁰ her husband for his outrage³¹ on the company, her failure to resent his attitude toward herself—all these pointed³² to a slavish submission³³. Everybody 

 

knew that if Sheila took it into her head to leave the stage there would be no stopping her.

 

The curtain went up, disclosing the empty house with all the soul gone out of it. In the cavernous balconies and the cave of the orchestra the ushers³⁴ moved about 

 

banging the seats together. They went waist-deep in the rows, vanishing as they stooped to pick up programs and rubbish. They were exchanging light persiflage³⁵ with the 

 

charwomen who were spreading shrouds³⁶ over the long windrows. The ushers and the scrub-ladies knew nothing of what had taken place after the curtain fell. They knew 

 

strangely little about theatrical³⁷ affairs.

 

They were hardly interested in the groups lingering on the stage in quiet, after-the-funeral conversation. But the situation was vitally interesting to the actors and 

 

the staff. Without Sheila the play would be starless. How could it go on? The company would be disbanded, the few weeks of salary would not have paid for the long 

 

rehearsals³⁸ or the costumes. The people would be taken back to New York and dumped on the market again, and at a time when most of the opportunities were gone.

 

It meant a relapse to poverty for some of them, a postponement³⁹ of ambitions and of loves, a further deferment⁴⁰ of old bills; it meant children taken out of good 

 

schools, parents cut off from their allowances; it meant all that the sudden closing of any other factory means.

 

The disaster was so unexpected and so outrageous⁴¹ that some of them found it incredible. They could not believe that Sheila would not come back and patch up a peace 

 

with Reben and Eldon and let the success continue. Successes were so rare and so hard to make that it was unbelievable that this tremendous gold-mine should be closed 

 

down because of a little quarrel, a little jealousy⁴², a little rough temper and hot language.

 

Eldon alone did not believe that Sheila would return. He had loved her and lost her. He had known her great ambitions, how lofty and beautiful they had been. He had 

 

dreamed of climbing the heights at her side; then he had learned of her marriage and had seen how completely her art had ceased to be the big dream of her soul, how 

 

completely it had been shifted to a place secondary to love.

 

No, Sheila would not make peace. Sheila was dead to this play, and this play dead without her, and without this play Sheila would die. Of this he felt solemnly 

 

assured.

 

Therefore when the others expressed their sympathy for the attack he had endured, or made jokes about it, he did not boast of what he might have done, or apologize for 

 

what he had left undone⁴³, or try to laugh it off or lie it off.

 

He could think only solemnly of the devastation⁴⁴ in an artist’s career and the deep damnation of her taking off.

 

Batterson said, “Say, that was a nasty one he handed you.”

 

Eldon confessed: “Yes, it nearly knocked my head off; but it was coming to me.”

 

“Why didn’t you hand him one back?”

 

“How could I hit him when you held his hands? How could I hit him when his wife was clinging to him? And what’s a blow? I’ve had worse ones than that in knock-down 

 

and drag-out fights. I’ll get a lot more later, no doubt. But I couldn’t hit Winfield. He doesn’t understand. Sheila has trouble enough ahead of her with him. Poor 

 

Sheila! She’s the one that will pay. The rest of us will get other jobs. But Sheila is done for.”

 

By now the scenery was all folded and stacked against the walls. The drops were lost in the flies. The furniture and properties were withdrawn⁴⁵. The bare walls of the 

 

naked stage were visible.

 

The electrician was at the switchboard, throwing off the house lights in order. They went out like great eyes closing. The theater grew darker and more forlorn. The 

 

stage itself yielded to the night. The footlights and borders blinked and were gone. There was no light save a little glow upon a standard set in the center of the 

 

apron⁴⁶.

 

Eldon sighed and went to his dressing-room.

1 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

2 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

3 clatter   

v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声

参考例句：

• The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
• Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。

4 hubbub   

n.嘈杂；骚乱

参考例句：

• The hubbub of voices drowned out the host's voice.嘈杂的声音淹没了主人的声音。
• He concentrated on the work in hand,and the hubbub outside the room simply flowed over him.他埋头于手头的工作，室外的吵闹声他简直象没有听见一般。

5 jumbled   

adj.混乱的；杂乱的

参考例句：

• Books, shoes and clothes were jumbled together on the floor. 书、鞋子和衣服胡乱堆放在地板上。
• The details of the accident were all jumbled together in his mind. 他把事故细节记得颠三倒四。

6 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

7 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

11 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

12 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

13 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。

14 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 taunt   

n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄

参考例句：

• He became a taunt to his neighbours.他成了邻居们嘲讽的对象。
• Why do the other children taunt him with having red hair?为什么别的小孩子讥笑他有红头发？

16 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

17 fetters   

n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were at last freed from the fetters of ignorance. 他们终于从愚昧无知的束缚中解脱出来。
• They will run wild freed from the fetters of control. 他们一旦摆脱了束缚，就会变得无法无天。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

19 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

20 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

21 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

22 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

23 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

24 loathing   

n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• She looked at her attacker with fear and loathing . 她盯着襲擊她的歹徒，既害怕又憎恨。
• They looked upon the creature with a loathing undisguised. 他们流露出明显的厌恶看那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

26 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

27 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

28 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

30 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

31 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

32 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

33 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

34 ushers   

n.引座员( usher的名词复数 )；招待员；门房；助理教员v.引，领，陪同( usher的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Seats clicked, ushers bowed while he looked blandly on. 座位发出啪啦啪啦的声响，领座员朝客人们鞠躬，而他在一边温和殷勤地看着。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The minister then offers a brief prayer of dedication, and the ushers return to their seats. 于是牧师又做了一个简短的奉献的祈祷，各招待员也各自回座位。 来自辞典例句

35 persiflage   

n.戏弄；挖苦

参考例句：

• When he spoke of murder,suicide,venereal disease,amputated limbs,and altered faces,it was with a faint air of persiflage.他谈到杀人、自杀、花柳病、断肢、换脸型的时候，隐隐有一种揶揄的神情。
• The persiflage is not appropriate when we are discussing such serious problems.当我们在讨论如此严肃的问题的时候，这种戏谑的言辞是不恰当的。

36 shrouds   

n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密

参考例句：

• 'For instance,' returned Madame Defarge, composedly,'shrouds.' “比如说，”德伐日太太平静地回答，“裹尸布。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• Figure 3-10 illustrates the result of a study or conical shrouds. 图3-10表明了对锥形外壳的研究结果。 来自辞典例句

37 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

38 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

40 deferment   

n.迁延，延期，暂缓

参考例句：

• The bank do not allow further deferment of his payment. 银行不容许他再次推迟付款。 来自互联网
• Students are to refer to the regulations governing course deferment, refund and withdrawal the Student's Handbook. 学生需要参考学生手册上有关推迟入学、退费和退学的相关规定。 来自互联网

41 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

42 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

43 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

44 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

46 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。