The invitation was heard and obeyed. The boys got up, yawning and rubbing their eyes, having a wholesome5 dread6 of their tyrant7 and his stick, which no tenderness of heart ever made him reluctant to use. Their toilet did not require long to make. The padrone was quite indifferent whether they were clean or not, and offered them no facilities for washing.
When they were dressed they were supplied with a frugal9 breakfast—a piece of bread and cheese each; their instruments were given them, and they were started off for a long day of toil8.
Phil looked around for Giacomo, who had slept in a different room, but he was not to be seen.
“Is Giacomo sick this morning, Pietro?” he asked of the padrone’s nephew.
“He pretends to be sick, little drone!” said Pietro, unfeelingly. “If I were the padrone, I would let him taste the stick again.”
Phil felt that he would like to see the brutal10 speaker suffering the punishment he wanted inflicted11 on him; but he knew Pietro’s power and malice12 too well to give utterance13 to the wish. A longing14 came to him to see Giacomo before he went out. He might have had a secret presentiment15 of what was coming.
“Signor Pietro,” he said, “may I see Giacomo before I go out?”
This request would have been refused without doubt, but that Pietro felt flattered at being addressed as signor, to which his years did not yet entitle him. Phil knew this, and therefore used the title.
“What do you want to see him for?” he asked, suspiciously.
“I want to ask him how he feels.”
“Yes, you can go in. Tell him he must get up to-morrow. The padrone will not let him spend his time in idleness.”
So Phil, having already his fiddle16 under his arm, entered the room where Giacomo lay. The other occupants of the room had risen, and the little boy was lying on a hard pallet in the corner. His eyes lighted up with joy as he saw Phil enter.
“I am glad it is you, Filippo,” he said; “I thought it was the padrone, come to make me get up.”
“How do you feel this morning, Giacomo?”
“I do not feel well, Filippo. My back is sore, and I am so weak.”
His eyes were very bright with the fever that had now control, and his cheeks were hot and flushed. Phil put his hand upon them.
“Your cheeks are very hot, Giacomo,” he said. “You are going to be sick.”
“I know it, Filippo,” said the little boy. “I may be very sick.”
“I hope not, Giacomo.”
“Lean over, Filippo,” said Giacomo. “I want to tell you something.”
Phil leaned over until his ear was close to the mouth of his little comrade.
“I think I am going to die, Filippo,” whispered Giacomo.
Phil started in dismay.
“No, no, Giacomo,” he said; “that is nonsense. You will live a great many years.”
“I think you will, Filippo. You are strong. But I have always been weak, and lately I am tired all the time. I don’t care to live—very much. It is hard to live;” and the little boy sighed as he spoke17.
“You are too young to die, Giacomo. It is only because you are sick that you think of it. You will soon be better.”
“I do not think so, Filippo. I should like to live for one thing.”
“What is that?” asked Phil, gazing with strange wonder at the patient, sad face of the little sufferer, who seemed so ready to part with the life which, in spite of his privations and hardships, seemed so bright to him.
“I should like to go back to my home in Italy, and see my mother again before I die. She loved me.”
The almost unconscious emphasis which he laid on the word “she” showed that in his own mind he was comparing her with his father, who had sold him into such cruel slavery.
“If you live, Giacomo, you will go back and see her some day.”
“I shall never see her again, Filippo,” said the little boy, sadly. “If you ever go back to Italy—when you are older—will you go and see her, and tell her that—that I thought of her when I was sick, and wanted to see her?”
“Filippo!” called Pietro, in harsh tones.
“I must go,” said Phil, starting to his feet.
“Kiss me before you go,” said Giacomo.
Phil bent19 over and kissed the feverish20 lips of the little boy, and then hurried out of the room. He never saw Giacomo again; and this, though he knew it not, was his last farewell to his little comrade.
So Phil commenced his wanderings. He was free in one way—he could go where he pleased. The padrone did not care where he picked up his money, as long as he brought home a satisfactory amount. Phil turned to go up town, though he had no definite destination in view. He missed Giacomo, who lately had wandered about in his company, and felt lonely without him.
“Poor Giacomo!” he thought. “I hope he will be well soon.”
Phil looked up and saw two sailors bearing down upon him (to use a nautical22 phrase) with arms locked, and evidently with more liquor aboard than they could carry steadily23.
“Give us a tune, boy, and we’ll pay you,” said the second.
Phil had met such customers before, and knew what would please them. He began playing some lively dancing tunes24, with so much effect that the sailors essayed to dance on the sidewalk, much to the amusement of a group of boys who collected around them.
“Go it, bluejacket! Go it, boots!” exclaimed the boys, designating them by certain prominent articles of dress.
The applause appeared to stimulate25 them to further efforts, and they danced and jumped high in air, to the hilarious26 delight of their juvenile27 spectators. After a time such a crowd collected that the attention of a passing policeman was attracted.
“What’s all this disturbance28?” he demanded, in tones of authority.
“We’re stretching our legs a little, shipmate,” said the first sailor.
“Then you’d better stretch them somewhere else than in the street.”
“I thought this was a free country,” hiccoughed the second.
“You’ll find it isn’t if I get hold of you,” said the officer.
“Want to fight?” demanded the second sailor, belligerently29.
“Boy, stop playing,” said the policeman. “I don’t want to arrest these men unless I am obliged to do it.”
Phil stopped playing, and this put a stop to the dance. Finding there was no more to be seen, the crowd also dispersed30. With arms again interlocked, the sailors were about to resume their walk, forgetting to “pay the piper.” But Phil was not at all bashful about presenting his claims. He took off his cap, and going up to the jolly pair said, “I want some pennies.”
Sailors are free with their money. Parsimony31 is not one of their vices32. Both thrust their hands into their pockets, and each drew out a handful of scrip, which they put into Phil’s hands, without looking to see how much it might be.
“That’s all right, boy, isn’t it?” inquired the first.
“All right,” answered Phil, wondering at their munificence33. He only anticipated a few pennies, and here looked to be as much as he was generally able to secure in a day. As soon as he got a good chance he counted it over, and found four half dollars, three quarters, and four tens—in all, three dollars and fifteen cents. At this rate, probably, the sailors’ money would not last long. However this was none of Phil’s business. It was only nine o’clock in the forenoon, and he had already secured enough to purchase immunity34 from blows at night. Still there was one thing unsatisfactory about it. All this money was to go into the hands of the padrone. Phil himself would reap none of the benefit, unless he bought his dinner, as he had purchased supper the evening before. But for this he had been severely35 punished, though he could not feel that he had done very wrong in spending the money he himself earned. However, it would be at least three hours before the question of dinner would come up.
It was not so cold as the day before. The thermometer had risen twenty-five degrees during the night—a great change, but not unusual in our variable climate. Phil rather enjoyed this walk, notwithstanding his back was a little lame.
He walked up the Bowery to the point where Third and Fourth avenues converge37 into it. He kept on the left-hand side, and walked up Fourth Avenue, passing the Cooper Institute and the Bible House, and, a little further on, Stewart’s magnificent marble store. On the block just above stood a book and periodical store, kept, as the sign indicated, by Richard Burnton. Phil paused a moment to look in at the windows, which were filled with a variety of attractive articles. Suddenly he was conscious of his violin being forcibly snatched from under his arm. He turned quickly, and thought he recognized Tim Rafferty, to whom the reader was introduced in the third chapter of this story.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
lame
|
|
| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
meditate
|
|
| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
wholesome
|
|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
tyrant
|
|
| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
toil
|
|
| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
frugal
|
|
| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
malice
|
|
| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
presentiment
|
|
| n.预感，预觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fiddle
|
|
| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
feverish
|
|
| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
nautical
|
|
| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
tunes
|
|
| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
stimulate
|
|
| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
hilarious
|
|
| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
juvenile
|
|
| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
belligerently
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
dispersed
|
|
| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
parsimony
|
|
| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
vices
|
|
| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
munificence
|
|
| n.宽宏大量，慷慨给与 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
immunity
|
|
| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
converge
|
|
| vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |