chapter 5

 

 

Yet Colonel Musgrave strolled into his garden, later, with a tolerable affectation of unconcern. Women, after all, he assured himself, were necessary for the perpetuation¹ of the species; and, resolving for the future to view these weakly, big-hipped and slope-shouldered makeshifts of Nature's with larger tolerance², he cocked his hat at a devil-may-carish angle, and strode up the walk, whistling jauntily³ and having, it must be confessed, to the unprejudiced observer very much the air of a sheep in wolf's clothing.

 

"At worst," he was reflecting, "I can make love to her. They, as a rule, take kindlily enough to that; and in the exercise of hospitality a host must go to all lengths to divert his guests. Failure is not permitted…."

 

Then She came to him.

 

She came to him across the trim, cool lawn, leisurely⁴, yet with a resilient tread that attested⁵ the vigor⁶ of her slim young body. She was all in white, diaphanous⁷, ethereal, quite incredibly incredible; but as she passed through the long shadows of the garden—fire-new, from the heart of the sunset, Rudolph Musgrave would have sworn to you,—the lacy folds and furbelows and semi-transparencies that clothed her were now tinged⁸ with gold, and now, as a hedge or flower-bed screened her from the horizontal rays, were softened⁹ into multitudinous graduations of grays and mauves and violets.

 

"Failure is not permitted," he was repeating in his soul….

 

"You're Cousin Rudolph, aren't you?" she asked. "How perfectly¹⁰ entrancing! You see until to-day I always thought that if I had been offered the choice between having cousins or appendicitis¹¹ I would have preferred to be operated on."

 

And Rudolph Musgrave noted¹², with a delicious tingling¹³ somewhere about his heart, that her hair was really like the reflection of a sunset in rippling¹⁴ waters,—only many times more beautiful, of course,—and that her mouth was an inconsiderable trifle, a scrap¹⁵ of sanguine¹⁶ curves, and that her eyes were purple glimpses of infinity¹⁷.

 

Then he observed that his own mouth was giving utterance¹⁸ to divers¹⁹ irrelevant²⁰ and foolish sounds, which eventually resolved themselves into the statement he was glad to see her. And immediately afterward²¹ the banality²² of this remark brought the hot blood to his face and, for the rest of the day, stung him and teased him, somewhere in the background of his mind, like an incessant²³ insect.

 

Glad, indeed!

 

Before he had finished shaking hands with Patricia Stapylton, it was all over with the poor man.

 

"Er—h'm!" quoth he.

 

"Only," Miss Stapylton was meditating²⁴, with puckered²⁵ brow, "it would be unseemly for me to call you Rudolph—"

 

"You impertinent minx!" cried he, in his soul; "I should rather think it would be!"

 

"—and Cousin Rudolph sounds exactly like a dried-up little man with eyeglasses and crows' feet and a gentle nature. I rather thought you were going to be like that, and I regard it as extremely hospitable²⁶ of you not to be. You are more like—like what now?" Miss Stapylton put her head to one side and considered the contents of her vocabulary,—"you are like a viking. I shall call you Olaf," she announced, when she had reached a decision.

 

This, look you, to the most dignified²⁷ man in Lichfield,—a person who had never borne a nickname in his life. You must picture for yourself how the colonel stood before her, big, sturdy and blond, and glared down at her, and assured himself that he was very indignant; like Timanthes, the colonel's biographer prefers to draw a veil before the countenance²⁸ to which art is unable to do justice.

 

Then, "I have no admiration²⁹ for the Northmen," Rudolph Musgrave declared, stiffly. "They were a rude and barbarous nation, proverbially addicted³⁰ to piracy³¹ and intemperance³²."

 

"My goodness gracious!" Miss Stapylton observed,—and now, for the first time, he saw the teeth that were like grains of rice upon a pink rose petal³³. Also, he saw dimples. "And does one mean all that by a viking?"

 

"The vikings," he informed her—and his Library manner had settled upon him now to the very tips of his fingers—"were pirates. The word is of Icelandic origin, from vik, the name applied³⁴ to the small inlets along the coast in which they concealed³⁵ their galleys³⁶. I may mention that Olaf was not a viking, but a Norwegian king, being the first Christian³⁷ monarch³⁸ to reign³⁹ in Norway."

 

"Dear me!" said Miss Stapylton; "how interesting!"

 

Then she yawned with deliberate cruelty.

 

"However," she concluded, "I shall call you Olaf, just the same."

 

"Er—h'm!" said the colonel.

 

* * * * *

 

And this stuttering boor⁴⁰ (he reflected) was Colonel Rudolph Musgrave, confessedly the social triumph of his generation! This imbecile, without a syllable⁴¹ to say for himself, without a solitary⁴² adroit⁴³ word within tongue's reach, wherewith to annihilate⁴⁴ the hussy, was a Musgrave of Matocton!

 

* * * * *

 

And she did. To her he was "Olaf" from that day forth⁴⁵.

 

Rudolph Musgrave called her, "You." He was nettled⁴⁶, of course, by her forwardness—"Olaf," indeed!—yet he found it, somehow, difficult to bear this fact in mind continuously.

 

For while it is true our heroes and heroines in fiction no longer fall in love at first sight, Nature, you must remember, is too busily employed with other matters to have much time to profit by current literature. Then, too, she is not especially anxious to be realistic. She prefers to jog along in the old rut, contentedly⁴⁷ turning out chromolithographic sunrises such as they give away at the tea stores, contentedly staging the most violent and improbable melodramas⁴⁸; and—sturdy old Philistine⁴⁹ that she is—she even now permits her children to fall in love in the most primitive⁵⁰ fashion.

 

She is not particularly interested in subtleties⁵¹ and soul analyses; she merely chuckles⁵² rather complacently⁵³ when a pair of eyes are drawn⁵⁴, somehow, to another pair of eyes, and an indescribable something is altered somewhere in some untellable fashion, and the world, suddenly, becomes the most delightful⁵⁵ place of residence in all the universe. Indeed, it is her favorite miracle, this. For at work of this sort the old Philistine knows that she is an adept⁵⁶; and she has rejoiced in the skill of her hands, with a sober workmanly joy, since Cain first went a-wooing in the Land of Nod.

 

So Colonel Rudolph Musgrave, without understanding what had happened to him, on a sudden was strangely content with life.

 

It was at supper—dinner, in Lichfield, when not a formal entertainment, is eaten at two in the afternoon—that he fell a-speculating as to whether Her eyes, after all, could be fitly described as purple.

 

Wasn't there a grayer luminosity about them than he had at first suspected?—wasn't the cool glow of them, in a word, rather that of sunlight falling upon a wet slate⁵⁷ roof?

 

It was a delicate question, an affair of nuances, of almost imperceptible graduations; and in debating a matter of such nicety, a man must necessarily lay aside all petty irritation⁵⁸, such as being nettled by an irrational⁵⁹ nickname, and approach the question with unbiased mind.

 

He did. And when, at last, he had come warily⁶⁰ to the verge⁶¹ of decision, Miss Musgrave in all innocence⁶² announced that they would excuse him if he wished to get back to his work.

 

He discovered that, somehow, the three had finished supper; and, somehow, he presently discovered himself in his study, where eight o'clock had found him every evening for the last ten years, when he was not about his social diversions. An old custom, you will observe, is not lightly broken.

1 perpetuation   

n.永存，不朽

参考例句：

• Are there some on going policies that encourage its perpetuation? 现在是否有一些持续的政策令这会根深蒂固？ 来自互联网
• Does the mental perpetuation exist? 存在心理的永恒吗？ 来自互联网

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 jauntily   

adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地

参考例句：

• His straw hat stuck jauntily on the side of his head. 他那顶草帽时髦地斜扣在头上。 来自辞典例句
• He returned frowning, his face obstinate but whistling jauntily. 他回来时皱眉蹙额，板着脸，嘴上却快活地吹着口哨。 来自辞典例句

4 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

5 attested   

adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The handwriting expert attested to the genuineness of the signature. 笔迹专家作证该签名无讹。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Witnesses attested his account. 几名证人都证实了他的陈述是真实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

7 diaphanous   

adj.(布)精致的，半透明的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a dress of diaphanous silk.她穿着一件薄如蝉翼的绸服。
• We have only a diaphanous hope of success.我们只有隐约的成功希望。

8 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

9 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 appendicitis   

n.阑尾炎，盲肠炎

参考例句：

• He came down with appendicitis.他得了阑尾炎。
• Acute appendicitis usually develops without relation to the ingestion of food.急性阑尾炎的发生通常与饮食无关。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 tingling   

v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

15 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

16 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

17 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

18 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

19 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

20 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

21 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

22 banality   

n.陈腐；平庸；陈词滥调

参考例句：

• Neil's ability to utter banalities never ceased to amaze me.每次我都很惊讶，尼尔怎么能讲出这么索然无味的东西。
• He couldn't believe the banality of the question.他无法相信那问题竟如此陈腐。

23 incessant   

adj.不停的，连续的

参考例句：

• We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。
• She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

24 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

25 puckered   

v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱，像要哭了。
• His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸，眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

27 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。

28 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

29 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。

30 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

31 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

32 intemperance   

n.放纵

参考例句：

• Health does not consist with intemperance. 健康与纵欲［无节制］不能相容。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She accepted his frequent intemperance as part of the climate. 对于他酗酒的恶习，她安之若素。 来自辞典例句

33 petal   

n.花瓣

参考例句：

• Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
• A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。

34 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。

35 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

36 galleys   

n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房

参考例句：

• Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails. 自从布满彩帆的大船下海以来，别的人曾淹死在海里。 来自辞典例句
• He sighed for the galleys, with their infamous costume. 他羡慕那些穿着囚衣的苦工。 来自辞典例句

37 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

38 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

39 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

40 boor   

n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬

参考例句：

• I'm a bit of a boor,so I hope you won't mind if I speak bluntly.我是一个粗人，说话直来直去，你可别见怪。
• If he fears the intellectual,he despises the boor.他对知识分子有戒心，但是更瞧不起乡下人。

41 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

42 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

43 adroit   

adj.熟练的，灵巧的

参考例句：

• Jamie was adroit at flattering others.杰米很会拍马屁。
• His adroit replies to hecklers won him many followers.他对质问者的机敏应答使他赢得了很多追随者。

44 annihilate   

v.使无效；毁灭；取消

参考例句：

• Archer crumpled up the yellow sheet as if the gesture could annihilate the news it contained.阿切尔把这张黄纸揉皱，好象用这个动作就会抹掉里面的消息似的。
• We should bear in mind that we have to annihilate the enemy.我们要把歼敌的重任时刻记在心上。

45 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

46 nettled   

v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• My remarks clearly nettled her. 我的话显然惹恼了她。
• He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. 他刚才有些来火，但现在又恢复了常态。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

47 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

48 melodramas   

情节剧( melodrama的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It was the operatic version of the Chinese costume melodramas so loved by television audiences. 这是电视观众最喜爱的一个中国故事的歌剧版本。

49 philistine   

n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的

参考例句：

• I believe he seriously thinks me an awful Philistine.我相信，他真的认为我是个不可救药的庸人。
• Do you know what a philistine is,jim?吉姆，知道什么是庸俗吗?

50 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

51 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。

52 chuckles   

轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Father always chuckles when he reads the funny papers. 父亲在读幽默报纸时总是低声发笑。
• [Chuckles] You thought he was being poisoned by hemlock? 你觉得他中的会是芹叶钩吻毒吗？

53 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

54 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

55 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

56 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

57 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

58 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

59 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

60 warily   

adv.留心地

参考例句：

• He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周，假装是在照顾嘉莉。
• They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。

61 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

62 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。