CHAPTER II NEXT DAY

Its a weery world. Here I be, a poor loansome female alone in this crool city warking for foaks wid lether harts.
“O wirra, wirra, wirra” as me auld¹ mother used to say.
Aroze. Dressed. Washed.
I wint to see me frind Minnie Carnavan last nite and feel better the day. Ses she:
“Its a fool you be Delia O’Mally. The Idear of you doing all the wark in a family of 6. Its no more sinse you seem to have than an eediot. Delia ses she, its the gurls thats been here long thats foolish like yursilf. They get stook wid wan² famly who hangs on to thim for deer life. The new wans—green from the auld cuntry arent hiring out to do gineral housewark. Its cooking in a family of 1 or 2 theyre looking for and getting. Its lite chamberwark or waiting on a table or the like. Theres never a one so green as to hire out to do the hole wark of a family. Your auld fashuned and saft” ses she, “Go down to Mack’s on 3rd Ave. Git a job for a munth or so as capper.”
“And what is that?”
“Well you tak a job” ses Minnie, “but you don’t kape it.”
“And what wud be the sinse of taking it for thin?”
“Why you gump for ivery place you tak Mack gits a fee of $3. You get harf for fooling thim.”
“Its an onest gurl I am” ses I wid scorn, “and its ashamed I’d be to mix mesilf in any such mess as that.”
“Well then” ses she “go down to the Alluyance. Its a place where they get jobs for the rich.”
“And what wud I be doing there?”
“Don’t you mind what I’m after meening? Its the rich ladies who pathronize them. Its a foine thing indade for thim. The Alluyunce fills oop there houses wid the sarvants. If a lady walks in modestly asking swately for a gurl for gineral housewark, they taks the fee of two or three or maybe five dollars, and thin smilingly infarm her that gineral housewarkers are an oonown quolity. ‘Tak a cook’ ses Miss Flimflam, seeted at a desk. ‘But’ ses the lady, luking very thrubbled, ‘a cook wont³ do anny other work at all.’”
“Sumtimes they do lite londry wark.” ses Miss Flimflam, yoning perlitely in her hand.
“Will they clean?”
“Land no!”
“Wate on table?”
“Certainly not.”
“Thin” ses the lady in disthress, “What am I to do? I moost have me wark dun.”
“Why” ses the clerk, a little more awake, “hire other girls, as the rist of our pathrons do.”
“Oh” ses the lady. “I suppose” ses she after a moment of deep and thrubbled thort, “if I get an exthra woman in to clean and wate on table the cook will wark cheeper?”
“Hm?” ses the lady at the disk. “I big yure pardin?”
“She’d wark cheeper, I sed?”
“Well to be frank, Mrs. Hodge Podge” answers Miss Flimflam at the desk, “a cooks an expinsive proppysition in these days. Now we have thim all the way down from $200 a munth to—er—well, you mite⁴ git an inexperienced beginnir for about $30, tho I cant⁵ promise.”
“Your fooling Minnie. Shure no cook gits such a forchune” ses I.
“Its thruth I’m telling you. Why I heard the uther day that Mrs. Vanderfool do be paying her cook $20,000 a year, and whats more the papers state theres an agytation now on foot among the bizzy club wimmin to let the poor hard warking girls, whose been impoased upon for sinturies, yuse the parlor⁶ wance a week to see there company in.”
“You don’t say” ses I, “and to think of me drudging for the starving wage of $20 per month.”
“Well” ses Minnie, “I wont misguide you Delia. $20 is the wages of a green girl who niver saw a Frinch pertater fryed on airth and who broils⁷ a stake in a sorspan cuvered snug⁸ wid water.”

1 auld   

adj.老的，旧的

参考例句：

• Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?怎能忘记旧日朋友，心中能不怀念？
• The party ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Sync.宴会以《友谊地久天长》的歌声而告终。

2 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。

3 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

4 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

5 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

6 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

7 broils   

v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的第三人称单数 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙）

参考例句：

• At length I fell into some broils. 最后我终于遭到了一场小小的风波。 来自辞典例句
• The sun broils the valley in the summer. 太阳在夏天炙烤着山谷。 来自互联网

8 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。