CHAPTER VII. — SAM MEETS HIS MATCH.

 Sam went upstairs with alacrity¹, and lay down on the bed,—not that he was particularly tired, but because he found it more agreeable to lie down than to work in the field.

 

"I wish I had something to read," he thought,—"some nice dime² novel like 'The Demon³ of the Danube.' That was splendid. I like it a good deal better than Dickens. It's more excitin'."

 

But there was no library in Sam's room, and it was very doubtful whether there were any dime novels in the house. The deacon belonged to the old school of moralists, and looked with suspicion upon all works of fiction, with a very few exceptions, such as Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe, which, however, he supposed to be true stories.

 

Soon Sam heard the step of Mrs. Hopkins on the stairs. He immediately began to twist his features in such a way as to express pain.

 

Mrs. Hopkins entered the room with a cup of hot liquid in her hand.

 

"How do you feel?" she asked.

 

"I feel bad," said Sam.

 

"Are you in pain?"

 

"Yes, I've got a good deal of pain."

 

"Whereabouts?"

 

Sam placed his hand on his stomach, and looked sad.

 

"Yes, I know exactly what is the matter with you," said the deacon's wife.

 

"Then you know a good deal," thought Sam, "for I don't know of anything at all myself."

 

This was what he thought, but he said, "Do you?"

 

"Oh, yes; I've had a good deal of experience. I know what is good for you."

 

Sam looked curiously⁴ at the cup.

 

"What is it?" he asked.

 

"It's hot tea; it's very healin'."

 

Sam supposed it to be ordinary tea, and he had no objection to take it. But when he put it to his lips there was something about the odor that did not please him.

 

"It doesn't smell good," he said, looking up in the face of Mrs. Hopkins.

 

"Medicine generally doesn't," she said, quietly.

 

"I thought it was tea," said Sam.

 

"So it is; it is wormwood-tea."

 

"I don't think I shall like it," hesitated Sam.

 

"No matter if you don't, it will do you good," said Mrs. Hopkins.

 

Sam tasted it, and his face assumed an expression of disgust.

 

"I can't drink it," he said.

 

"You must," said Mrs. Hopkins, firmly.

 

"I guess I'll get well without," said our hero, feeling that he was in a scrape.

 

"No, you won't. You're quite unwell. I can see it by your face."

 

"Can you?" said Sam, beginning to be alarmed about his health.

 

"You must take this tea," said the lady, firmly.

 

"I'd rather not."

 

"That's neither here nor there. The deacon needs you well, so you can go to work, and this will cure you as quick as anything."

 

"Suppose it doesn't?" said Sam.

 

"Then I shall bring you up some castor-oil in two hours."

 

Castor-oil! This was even worse than wormwood-tea, and Sam's heart sank within him.

 

"The old woman's too much for me," he thought, with a sigh.

 

"Come, take the tea," said Mrs. Hopkins. "I can't wait here all day."

 

Thus adjured⁵, Sam made a virtue⁶ of necessity, and, shutting his eyes, gulped⁷ down the wormwood. He shuddered⁸ slightly when it was all done, and his face was a study.

 

"Well done!" said Mrs. Hopkins. "It's sure to do you good."

 

"I think I'd have got well without," said Sam. "I'm afraid it won't agree with me."

 

"If it don't," said Mrs. Hopkins, cheerfully, "I'll try some castor-oil."

 

"I guess I won't need it," said Sam, hastily.

 

"It was awful," said Sam to himself, as his nurse left him alone. "I'd rather hoe potatoes than take it again. I never see such a terrible old woman. She would make me do it, when I wasn't no more sick than she is."

 

Mrs. Hopkins smiled to herself as she went downstairs.

 

"Served him right," she said to herself. "I'll l'arn him to be sick. Guess he won't try it again very soon."

 

Two hours later Mrs. Hopkins presented herself at Sam's door. He had been looking out of the window; but he bundled into bed as soon as he heard her. Appearances must be kept up.

 

"How do you feel now, Sam?" asked Mrs. Hopkins.

 

"A good deal better," said Sam, surveying in alarm a cup of some awful decoction in her hand.

 

"Do you feel ready to go to work again?"

 

"Almost," said Sam, hesitating.

 

"The wormwood-tea did you good, it seems; but you're not quite well yet."

 

"I'll soon be well," said Sam, hastily.

 

"I mean you shall be," said his visitor. "I've brought you some more medicine."

 

"Is it tea?"

 

"No, castor-oil."

 

"I don't need it," said Sam, getting up quickly. "I'm well."

 

"If you are not well enough to go to work, you must take some oil."

 

"Yes, I am," said Sam. "I'll go right out into the field."

 

"I don't want you to go unless you are quite recovered. I'm sure the oil will bring you 'round."

 

"I'm all right, now," said Sam, hastily.

 

"Very well; if you think so, you can go to work."

 

Rather ruefully Sam made his way to the potato-field, with his hoe on his shoulder.

 

"Tea and castor-oil are worse than work," he thought. "The old woman's got the best of me, after all. I wonder whether she knew I was makin' believe."

 

On this point Sam could not make up his mind. She certainly seemed in earnest, and never expressed a doubt about his being really sick. But all the same, she made sickness very disagreeable to him, and he felt that in future he should not pretend sickness when she was at home. It made him almost sick to think of the bitter tea he had already drunk, and the oil would have been even worse.

 

The deacon looked up as he caught sight of Sam.

 

"Have you got well?" he asked innocently, for he had not been as clear-sighted as his wife in regard to the character of Sam's malady⁹.

 

"Yes," said Sam, "I'm a good deal better, but I don't feel quite so strong as I did."

 

"Mebbe it would be well for you to fast a little," said the deacon, in all sincerity¹⁰, for fasting was one of his specifics in case of sickness.

 

"No, I don't think it would," said Sam, quickly. "I'll feel better by supper-time."

 

"I hope you will," said the deacon.

 

"I wish I had a piece of pie or somethin' to take the awful taste out of my mouth," thought Sam. "I can taste that wormwood jist as plain! I wonder why such things are allowed to grow."

 

For the rest of the afternoon Sam worked unusually well. He was under the the deacon's eye, and unable to get away, though he tried at least once. After they had been at work for about an hour, Sam said suddenly, "Don't you feel thirsty, Deacon Hopkins?"

 

"What makes you ask?" said the deacon;

 

"Because I'd jist as lieves go to the house and get some water," said Sam, with a very obliging air.

 

"You're very considerate, Samuel; but I don't think it's healthy to drink between meals."

 

"Supposin' you're thirsty," suggested Sam, disappointed.

 

"It's only fancy. You don't need drink railly. You only think you do," said the deacon, and he made some further remarks on the subject to which Sam listened discontentedly. He began to think his situation a very hard one.

 

"It's work—work all the time," he said to himself. "What's the good of workin' yourself to death? When I'm a man I'll work only when I want to."

 

Sam did not consider that there might be some difficulty in earning a living unless he were willing to work for it. The present discomfort¹¹ was all he thought of.

 

At last, much to Sam's joy, the deacon gave the signal to return to the house.

 

"If you hadn't been sick, we'd have got through more," he said; "but to-morrow we must make up for lost time."

 

"I hope it'll rain to-morrow," thought Sam. "We can't work in the rain."

 

At supper the wormwood seemed to give him additional appetite.

 

"I'm afraid you'll make yourself sick again, Samuel," said the deacon.

 

"There aint no danger," said Sam, looking alarmed at the suggestion. "I feel all right now."

 

"The wormwood did you good," said Mrs. Hopkins, drily.

 

"I wonder if she means anything," thought Sam

1 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

2 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

3 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

4 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

5 adjured   

v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求

参考例句：

• He adjured them to tell the truth. 他要求他们讲真话。
• The guides now adjured us to keep the strictest silence. 这时向导恳求我们保持绝对寂静。 来自辞典例句

6 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

7 gulped   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
• She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下，似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

10 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

11 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。