MRS. REYNOLDS.

Sir Joshua had a maiden¹ sister, Mrs. Frances Reynolds; a woman of worth and understanding, but of a singular character; who, unfortunately for herself, made, throughout life, the great mistake of nourishing that singularity which was her bane, as if it had been her blessing².
She lived with Sir Joshua at this time, and stood
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high in the regard of his firm and most honoured friend, Dr. Johnson; who saw and pitied her foible, but tried to cure it in vain. It was that of living in an habitual³ perplexity of mind, and irresolution⁴ of conduct, which to herself was restlessly tormenting⁵, and to all around her was teazingly wearisome.
Whatever she suggested, or planned, one day, was reversed the next; though resorted to on the third, as if merely to be again rejected on the fourth; and so on, almost endlessly; for she rang not the changes in her opinions and designs in order to bring them into harmony and practice; but waveringly to stir up new combinations and difficulties; till she found herself in the midst of such chaotic⁶ obstructions⁷ as could chime in with no given purpose; but must needs be left to ring their own peal⁸, and to begin again just where they began at first.
This lady was a no unfrequent visitor in St. Martin’s-street; where, for her many excellent qualities, she was much esteemed⁹.
The Miss Palmers,[50] also, two nieces of Sir Joshua,
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lived with him then occasionally; and one of them, afterwards, habitually¹⁰; and added to the grace of his table, and of his evening circles, by the pleasingness of their manners, and the beauty of their persons.
Mrs. Frances Reynolds desired to paint Dr. Burney’s portrait, that she might place it among certain other worthies¹¹ of her choice, already ornamenting¹² her dressing-room. The Doctor had little time to spare; but had too natively the spirit of the old school, to suffer No! and a lady, to pair off together.
During his sittings, one trait of her tenacious¹³ humour occurred, that he was always amused in relating. While she was painting his hair, which was remarkably¹⁴ thick, she asked him, very gravely, whether he could let her have his wig¹⁵ some day to work at, without troubling him to sit.
“My wig?” repeated he, much surprised.
“Yes;” she answered; “have not you more than one? can’t you spare it?”
“Spare it?—Why what makes you think it a wig? It’s my own hair.”
“O then, I suppose,” said she, with a smile, “I must not call it a wig?”
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“Not call it a wig?—why what for, my clear Madam, should you call it a wig?”
“Nay, Sir,” replied she, composedly, “if you do not like it, I am sure I won’t.”
And he protested, that though he offered her every proof of twisting, twitching¹⁶, and twirling that she pleased, she calmly continued painting, without heeding¹⁷ his appeal for the hairy honours of his head; and only coolly repeating, “I suppose, then, I must not call it a wig?”

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

3 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

4 irresolution   

n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定

参考例句：

• A lack of certainty that often leads to irresolution. 疑惑缺少肯定而导致犹豫不决。 来自互联网
• Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? 我们迟疑不决、无所作为就能积聚力量吗？ 来自互联网

5 tormenting   

使痛苦的，使苦恼的

参考例句：

• He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。
• The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

8 peal   

n.钟声；v.鸣响

参考例句：

• The bells of the cathedral rang out their loud peal.大教堂响起了响亮的钟声。
• A sudden peal of thunder leaves no time to cover the ears.迅雷不及掩耳。

9 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

11 worthies   

应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征

参考例句：

• The world is peopled with worthies, and workers, useful and clever. 世界上住着高尚的人，劳动的人，有用又聪明。
• The former worthies have left us a rich cultural heritage. 前贤给我们留下了丰富的文化遗产。

12 ornamenting   

v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They are ornamenting a Christmas tree. 他们在装饰圣诞树。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am appreciated your great efforts for ornamenting this suffering order to a mysterious yashmak. （译文）我非常感谢你们巨大的努力给这张多灾多难的订单披上神秘的面纱。 来自互联网

13 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

14 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

15 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

16 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 heeding   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This come of heeding people who say one thing and mean another! 有些人嘴里一回事，心里又是一回事，今天这个下场都是听信了这种人的话的结果。 来自辞典例句
• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。 来自辞典例句