CHAPTER XLV

 Dulcie had plotted it all for her own personal entertainment. Like a mad King of Bavaria she commanded the actors before her. She had caught sight of Sheila, and she 

 

knew who Bret was from the descriptions of him. She had a grudge¹ against Sheila on general principles and another against Eldon for not going mad over her.

 

Eldon had received no answer to the note he sent Sheila denying his part in the newspaper notoriety. This had rankled² in his heart. Bret still believed that the note 

 

was a lie and an effort to keep a hook on Sheila. He loved Eldon less than ever.

 

There was a longing³ for battle in both the big hearts, and each would have been glad to beat the other down before the whole crowd; yet, because of the crowd, neither 

 

could strike.

 

Sheila guessed at once that Dulcie had planned it; the cat was overacting her r?le of surprise and regret, as her little heart thrilled to see the two men braced⁴ in 

 

scarlet⁵ confusion and Sheila fluttering between them.

 

Bret endured a year of compressed agony. The foolishness of resuming the fight, the foolishness of not resuming it, the inextricable tangle⁶ of contradictory⁷ duties and 

 

impulses, shattered him. Eldon was undergoing the same return to chaos⁸.

 

Yet the crowd shoving past observed nothing and did not pause. Bret felt Sheila’s hand clasp his arm both to protect and to be protected, and she urged him on. Then 

 

he managed to bow with formality to Eldon and to Dulcie. And so the great rencounter ended. Dulcie alone was made happy.

 

Sheila could not let her get away with that baby stare. She smiled with pretended amusement and said, “Thank you ever so much, Miss Ormerod.”

 

“Thank me for what?” gasped⁹ Dulcie. But Sheila just twinkled her eyes and smiled as she walked on.

 

Her muscles were tired for half an hour with the effort that smile cost them.

 

She led Bret to the box, and he was shivering with the unsatisfied emotions of a fighter for the battle missed. Sheila sank into a chair exhausted¹⁰. She looked about 

 

anxiously. The one thing needed to complete the situation was for Eldon to walk into the next box and spend the rest of the afternoon. They were spared this 

 

coincidence.

 

Bret was in no mood to remain, but she kept him there. There would be some distraction¹¹ at least in the spectacle. If they went back to their hotel they would have only 

 

their bitterness to chew upon.

 

The auction¹² of the autographed program began. There was excited bidding from all parts of the house. But Bret kept silent. The program brought five hundred dollars. 

 

Bret sneered¹³ at the price of the trash.

 

A musical number came next. The orchestra struck up a tune¹⁴ that would have set gravestones to jigging¹⁵. A platoon of young men and women in fantastic bravery was flung 

 

across the stage, singing and caracoling. A famous buffoon¹⁶ waddled¹⁷ to the footlights and beamed like a new red moon with its chin on the horizon. He was a master of 

 

the noble art of tomfoolery and the high-school of horse-play. He probed into the childhood core of every heart, and no grief could resist him.

 

Sheila forgot to be dismal¹⁸ and tried to look solemn for Bret’s sake till she saw that he was overpowered, too. He began to grin, to sniff¹⁹, to snort, to shake, to 

 

roll, to guffaw²⁰. He laughed till tears poured down his cheeks. Sheila laughed in a dual²¹ joy. Everything solemn, ugly, hateful, dignified²², had become foolish and 

 

childish; and foolishness had become the one great wisdom of the world.

 

The jester always wins in a contest with the doldrums because philosophy and honor present riddles²³ that cannot be solved. The mystery of fun is just as insoluble, but 

 

you laugh while you wait.

 

Sheila watched the thousands of people rocking and roaring in a surf of delight, and she watched her husband’s soul washed clean as a child’s heart. It was a noble 

 

profession, this clownery; comedy was a priesthood.

 

Suddenly she saw Bret’s eyes, roving the hilarious²⁴ multitude, pause and harden. She followed the line of his gaze across the space and saw Eldon in a box. He was 

 

laughing like a huge boy, putting back his head and baying the moon with yelps²⁵ of delight.

 

She watched Bret anxiously and saw a kind of forgiveness softening²⁶ his glare. The contagion²⁷ of laughter reinfected him and he laughed harder than ever. If Eldon and he 

 

had met now they would have leaned on each other to laugh. Music and buffoonery and grief are the universal languages that everybody understands.

 

The excerpt²⁸ from the comic opera was succeeded by a little play, and now the audience, shaken from its trenches²⁹ by the artillery³⁰ of laughter, was helpless before the 

 

pathos³¹. The handkerchiefs fluttered like little white flags everywhere. Sheila saw through her tears that Bret was swallowing hard; a tear rolled out on his cheek, and 

 

he was ashamed to brush it off. It splashed on his finger and startled him. He looked at Sheila, and she smiled at him with ineffable³² tenderness. He reached out and 

 

took her hand.

 

In that mood a swift understanding could have been reached with Eldon. Sheila might almost have forgiven Dulcie. But they did not meet. As they left the Opera House, 

 

pleasantly fatigued³³ with the exercise of every emotion, she felt immensely contented³⁴.

 

But the inevitable³⁵ reaction followed. In this wonderful work of the stage, why was she idle? Why was she skulking³⁶ at a distance when her training, her gifts, her 

 

ambitions, called her to do her share—to make people glad and sad and wise in sympathy? Why? Why? Why?

 

Two years later there was another baby—a daughter, its mother’s exquisite³⁷ miniature. There was some bad luck for Sheila on this occasion, and the physician warned 

 

her against further child-bearing for several years. She was not up and about so soon as before, and a vague haze³⁸ of melancholy³⁹ settled about her. She took less 

 

interest in life.

 

Her laughter was not half so frequent or so clear; her mischief⁴⁰ of satire⁴¹ was gone. She smiled on Bret more tenderly than ever, but it was tenderness rather than 

 

amusement. She had nerve-storms and idled about incessantly⁴², and sometimes, with no apparent reason or warning, she would sigh frantically⁴³, leap to her feet, and pace 

 

the floor or the porch or the lawn aimlessly. When Bret anxiously asked her what was the matter she would gaze at him with sorrowful eyes and that doleful effort at a 

 

smile and say:

 

“Nothing, honey; nothing at all.”

 

“But you’re not happy?”

 

“Yes, I am, dear. Why shouldn’t I be? I have everything: my lover for my husband, my children, the home—everything.”

 

“Everything,” he would groan⁴⁴, “except—”

 

Then she would put her hands over his lips.

1 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

2 rankled   

v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her comments still rankled. 她的评价仍然让人耿耿于怀。
• The insult rankled in his mind. 这种侮辱使他心里难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

4 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

6 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

7 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

12 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

13 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。

14 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

15 jigging   

n.跳汰选，簸选v.（使）上下急动( jig的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They were jigging up and down to the music. 他们随着音乐的节拍轻快地上下跳着。 来自互联网
• She hopped about on stage, jigging her feet. 她在舞台上用脚跳来跳去。 来自互联网

16 buffoon   

n.演出时的丑角

参考例句：

• They pictured their manager as a buffoon.他们把经理描绘成一个小丑。
• That politician acted like a buffoon during that debate.这个政客在那场辩论中真是丑态百出。

17 waddled   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A family of ducks waddled along the river bank. 一群鸭子沿河岸摇摇摆摆地走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stout old man waddled across the road. 那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

19 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

20 guffaw   

n.哄笑；突然的大笑

参考例句：

• All the boys burst out into a guffaw at the joke.听到这个笑话，男孩子们发出一阵哄笑。
• As they guffawed loudly,the ticket collector arrived.他们正哈哈大笑的时候，检票员到了。

21 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

22 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

23 riddles   

n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜

参考例句：

• Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看，口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句

24 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

25 yelps   

n.（因痛苦、气愤、兴奋等的）短而尖的叫声( yelp的名词复数 )v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The woman emitted queer regular little snores that sounded like yelps. 她那跟怪叫差不多的鼾声一股一股地从被里冒出来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• As the moments passed the yelps grew closer and louder. 一会儿，呼叫声越来越近、越来越响了。 来自互联网

26 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

27 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

28 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

29 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

30 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

31 pathos   

n.哀婉，悲怆

参考例句：

• The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯，看得我们不禁流泪。
• There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。

32 ineffable   

adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的

参考例句：

• The beauty of a sunset is ineffable.日落的美是难以形容的。
• She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction,as if her cup of happiness were now full.她发出了一声说不出多么满意的叹息，仿佛她的幸福之杯已经斟满了。

33 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

34 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

35 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

36 skulking   

v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• There were half a dozen foxes skulking in the undergrowth. 在林下灌丛中潜伏着五六只狐狸。 来自辞典例句

37 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

38 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

39 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

40 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。

41 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

42 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

43 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

44 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。