CHAPTER IV NEW NEIGHBOURS

 “Now she’s cast off her bonny shoon

Made o’ gilded¹ leather,

And she’s put on her Hieland brogues

To skip amang the heather:

And she’s cast off her bonny goon

Made o’ the silk and satin,

And she’s put on a tartan plaid

To row amang the bracken.”

 M

ARIE JEAN HENNESY was making her morning toilet. The sun was five hours high, but for this Marie Jean cared nothing at all. She finished tying a row of white rags in her hair that gave her a peculiarly spiked² and bristling³ appearance, and then buttoned her velveteen waist here and there, leaving a button over at the top and bringing a mateless buttonhole out at the bottom.

 

-38-

 

Marie Jean's room was in a state of disorder⁴ that suggested its owner had participated in late festivities the night before. A pair of soiled white slippers⁵ were flung under the bed, together with a pair of down-trodden shoes which Marie Jean, on her knees, was even now seeking. A white gown that had lost much of its pristine⁶ purity was thrown over a chair, while belts, ribbons, soap, corset-strings, fans, handkerchiefs, powder-puffs and stockings occupied conspicuous⁷ positions on the furniture or on the floor. Every drawer had its mouth shut tight on a large mouthful of its possessions,—and the dresser top was so filled with combs, brushes, perfumery, thread, safety pins, matches, hair-pins and bottles, that the only wonder was it could hold it all.

 

But the rapt expression of Marie Jean Hennesy's face betokened⁸ that her thoughts were far away from the mean subject of household disorder. She was studying the programme of the ball of the night before, at which she had danced every number. To be sure, her slip-39-pers had hurt her, and she had endured an uncomfortable pinch in the waist, but murmurs⁹ of admiration¹⁰ on every side had told her she "looked lovely." She hummed a bit of a waltz tune¹¹ and glanced coquettishly in the mirror as the remembrance of her conquests flowed warmly back to her: then discovering that by the morning light she was looking sallow, she rescued the jar of Maiden's Blush from under the bureau and deftly¹² applied¹³ it to her cheeks.

 

That Marie Jean's breakfast waited, no one with a nose could deny. The smoky fat of much fried bacon festooned the air in graceful¹⁴ clouds, alluring¹⁵ the tardy¹⁶ maid kitchenward. It swung riotously¹⁷ in the folds of the parlour curtains and luxuriated on the best plush parlour chairs, while the essence of boiled coffee stalked boldly upstairs, calling loudly, "Come down, Marie Jean,—we've waited for hours."

 

In the kitchen there were evidences that Mrs. Hennesy had been scrubbing. A pail of scrubbing water stood on the floor, and the-40- brush and soap lay beside. A sharp boundary line, also, divided the clean from the unclean. But the floor was quite dry, and Mrs. Hennesy's apron¹⁸ was nearly dry, and she was so absorbed in looking out of the window at the people that were moving in next door that she did not hear Marie Jean enter the kitchen. When she became aware of her presence she gave an apologetic little cough, and bustled¹⁹ about the stove serving the delayed breakfast.

 

"If I'd knowed ye was up, Mary Jane," she said deprecatingly, "I'd've fixed²⁰ somethin' else fer yer breakfast. I've been kapin' this since sivin o'clock an' it's near noon now. What kind of a time was there at the dance last night? I tried to kape awake till ye come in, but I was that tired wit' the ironin' I dropped off in spite of mesilf. Did ye enjoy yerself?"

 

"Oh, fairly well," drawled Marie Jean, toying languidly with her cup and spoon: there was a wrinkle between the eyes, and a haughty-41- uplifting of the chin that warned Mrs. Hennesy that as ever after a ball, Marie Jean was cross, and she hastened to change the subject to impersonal²¹ topics.

 

"The new folks is movin' in next door," she volunteered: "they must have been doin' a lot of repairs. The painters an' paper hangers²² has just got their ladders an' things moved out, an' the carpets is bein' nailed down now: they've kep' the racket up since sivin o'clock this mornin'. Sure now, I do be missin' Mrs. Casey more an' more ivery day,—a-comin' in an' out wit' a pail, or the coal hod, or the potatay peelin's, an' always stoppin' to spake neighbourly like, over the fince. It's hard to see new folks movin' in."

 

"What manner of people are they?" inquired Marie Jean, leaning languidly back in her chair.

 

"Oh, they seem good enough folks," returned Mrs. Hennesy, "but they'll niver be what Mrs. Casey was,—that frindly an' obligin' she was that she'd lind the head off her-42- shoulders. The man looks like wan²³ of thim Protestant praists,—an' the woman's young lookin', all but her white hair. There's two girls about yer age, Mary Jane, an' a boy, besides a hired girl. They've got good furniture,—nothin' so good as our plush parlour set, though,—an' I don't much care for the colour of their carpets. Still, I guess they'll be good neighbours enough."

 

Marie Jean pushed back her breakfast and stepped over to the window. The scene that met her eyes was an animated²⁴ one. Workmen were lifting furniture and household goods out of a heavy moving van and hurrying them into the house. A tall gentlemen in a silk hat was beating a rug in the back yard. A stout-armed maid was suspended out of an upper story window with pail, brushes and fluttering rags, engaged in cleaning the glass. A tall broad-shouldered youth in a baggy²⁵ pair of overalls²⁶ was digging out the rotten fenceposts: and last of all, a girl in a gingham dress, a girl with flushed face and wavy²⁷ hair tucked up-43- under an old hat, was energetically raking the yard and gathering²⁸ the dirt into little piles.

 

"Mercy!" exclaimed Marie Jean Hennesy. Then she added haughtily²⁹, "I shall not call upon them."

1 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

2 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

3 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

6 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

7 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

8 betokened   

v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nothing betokened that the man know anything of what had occurred. 显然那个人还不知道已经发生了什么事。 来自互联网
• He addressed a few angry words to her that betokened hostility. 他对她说了几句预示敌意的愤怒的话。 来自互联网

9 murmurs   

n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕

参考例句：

• They spoke in low murmurs. 他们低声说着话。 来自辞典例句
• They are more superficial, more distinctly heard than murmurs. 它们听起来比心脏杂音更为浅表而清楚。 来自辞典例句

10 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

11 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。

12 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

15 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

16 tardy   

adj.缓慢的，迟缓的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。

17 riotously   

adv.骚动地，暴乱地

参考例句：

• Humboldt riotously picketed Von Trenk but the play was a hit. 尽管洪堡肆意破坏《冯·特伦克》的上演，然而这个剧还是轰动一时。 来自辞典例句
• Flung roses, roses, riotously with the throng. 随着人群欢舞，狂热地抛撒玫瑰，玫瑰。 来自互联网

18 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。

19 bustled   

闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促

参考例句：

• She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
• The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

22 hangers   

n.衣架( hanger的名词复数 )；挂耳

参考例句：

• The singer was surrounded by the usual crowd of lackeys and hangers on. 那个歌手让那帮总是溜须拍马、前呼後拥的人给围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want to put some of my good hangers in Grandpa's closet. 我想在爷爷的衣橱放几个好的衣架。 来自辞典例句

23 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

24 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

25 baggy   

adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的

参考例句：

• My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
• Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦，而不是无礼。

26 overalls   

n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣

参考例句：

• He is in overalls today.他今天穿的是工作裤。
• He changed his overalls for a suit.他脱下工装裤，换上了一套西服。

27 wavy   

adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• She drew a wavy line under the word.她在这个词的下面画了一条波纹线。
• His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow.他的波浪式头发太长了，正好垂在他的眉毛下。

28 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

29 haughtily   

adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地

参考例句：

• She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
• Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯，走到二楼，我刚好站在那儿。