XXIX. THAT OF THE ABSENT-MINDED LADY.

 The lady hailed a passing 'bus,

And sat down with a jerk;

Upon her heated face she wore

A most complacent¹ smirk²;

Three parcels held she in her lap,

Safe-guarded from the least mishap³.

The 'bus it rattled⁴, bumped, and shook—

She didn't seem to mind—

And every now and then she smiled,

As something crossed her mind:

She evidently longed to tell

The joke, that we might smile as well.

"These men!" she said, at last to one

Who sat beside her. "It's absurd.

To hear them rave⁵. They seem to think

That nobody—upon my word—

But men can do things in what they

Are pleased to call the proper way.

 

"My husband now, he's like the rest,

And said, when I came out

To do some shopping, I'd forget

Something, he had no doubt,

Or else buy more than I desired,

Or something which was not required.

"Now, three things I set out to buy

At Mr. Whiteley's store;

Three parcels here, I'm taking home,

Three parcels, and no more.

My husband he must own ere long

Himself entirely⁶ in the wrong."

She smiled,—a most triumphant⁷ smile.

"Exactly like the men!"

She said, and I—she looked at me—

Felt much embarrassed then.

Her scorn for men was undisguised;

The other ladies sympathised.

But, presently, I noticed that

Upon the lady's face

No smile was seen—a puzzled frown

Had come there in its place;

She squirmed, and fidgeted about,

And turned her pockets inside out.

She counted over—several times—

Her parcels—"One—two—three;"

Clutched at her purse, her parasol;

Then muttered, "H'm! Dear me!

There's nothing that I haven't got.

What can I have forgotten? What?"

She tapped her foot impatiently;

Stared out into the street;

She got up several times and searched

Quite vaguely⁸ o'er the seat;

Then gave a sigh and settled down,

Still wearing that bewildered frown.

Then, evidently lost in thought,

She sat as in a dream,

Till—o'er her face a pallor spread,—

She sprang up, with a scream:

"Oh, stop! Pray stop, conductor! Stop!

I've left the baby in the shop!"

1 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

2 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

3 mishap   

n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸

参考例句：

• I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。
• We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

4 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

5 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

8 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。