"Children and fools speak the truth."
I
"What's that sigh for, Polly dear?" "I'm tired, mother, tired of working and waiting. If I'm ever going to have any fun, I want it now while I can enjoy it."
"You shouldn't wait another hour if I could have my way; but you know how helpless I am;" and poor Mrs. Snow sighed dolefully, as she glanced about the dingy1 room and pretty Mary turning her faded gown for the second time.
"If Aunt Kipp would give us the money she is always talking about, instead of waiting till she dies, we should be so comfortable. She is a dreadful bore, for she lives in such terror of dropping dead with her heart-complaint that she doesn't take any pleasure in life herself or let any one else; so the sooner she goes the better for all of us," said Polly, in a desperate tone; for things looked very black to her just then.
"My dear, don't say that," began her mother, mildly shocked; but a bluff2 little voice broke in with the forcible remark,—
"She's everlastingly3 telling me never to put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day; next time she comes I'll remind her of that, and ask her, if she is going to die, why she doesn't do it?"
"Toady4! you're a wicked, disrespectful boy; never let me hear you say such a thing again about your dear Aunt Kipp."
"She isn't dear! You know we all hate her, and you are more afraid of her than you are of spiders,—so now."
The young personage whose proper name had been corrupted5 into Toady, was a small boy of ten or eleven, apple-cheeked, round-eyed, and curly-headed; arrayed in well-worn, gray knickerbockers, profusely6 adorned7 with paint, glue, and shreds8 of cotton. Perched on a high stool, at an isolated9 table in a state of chaos10, he was absorbed in making a boat, entirely11 oblivious12 of the racking tooth-ache which had been his excuse for staying from school. As cool, saucy13, hard-handed, and soft-hearted a little specimen14 of young America was Toady as you would care to see; a tyrant15 at home, a rebel at school, a sworn foe16 to law, order, and Aunt Kipp. This young person was regarded as a reprobate17 by all but his mother, sister, and sister's sweetheart, Van Bahr Lamb. Having been, through much anguish18 of flesh and spirit, taught that lying was a deadly sin, Toady rushed to the other extreme, and bolted out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, at all times and places, with a startling abruptness19 that brought wrath20 and dismay upon his friends and relatives.
"It's wicked to fib; you've whipped that into me and you can't rub it out," he was wont21 to say, with vivid recollection of the past tingling22 in the chubby23 portions of his frame.
"Mind your chips, Toady, and take care what you say to Aunt Kipp, or you'll be as poor as a little rat all the days of your life," said Polly, warningly.
"I don't want her old money, and I'll tell her so if she bothers me about it. I shall go into business with Van and take care of the whole lot; so don't you preach, Polly," returned Toady, with as much dignity as was compatible with a great dab24 of glue on the end of his snub nose.
"Mother, did aunt say anything about coming this week?" asked Polly, after a pause of intense thought over a breadth with three darns, two spots, and a burn.
"Yes; she wrote that she was too feeble to come at present, as she had such dreadful palpitations she didn't dare stir from her room. So we are quite safe for the next week at least, and—bless my soul, there she is now!"
Mrs. Snow clasped her hands with a gesture of dismay, and sat as if transfixed by the spectacle of a ponderous26 lady, in an awe-inspiring bonnet27, who came walking slowly down the street. Polly gave a groan28, and pulled a bright ribbon from her hair. Toady muttered, "Oh, bother!" and vainly attempted to polish up his countenance29 with a fragmentary pocket-handkerchief.
"Nothing but salt fish for dinner," wailed30 Mrs. Snow, as the shadow of the coming event fell upon her.
"Van will make a fool of himself, and ruin everything," sighed Polly, glancing at the ring on her finger.
The garden gate clashed, dust flew from the door-mat, a heavy step echoed in the hall, an imperious voice called "Sophy!" and Aunt Kipp entered with a flourish of trumpets33, for Toady blew a blast through his fingers which made the bows totter34 on her bonnet.
"My dear aunt, I'm very glad to see you," murmured Mrs. Snow, advancing with a smile of welcome; for though as weak as water gruel35, she was as kind-hearted a little woman as ever lived.
"What a fib that was!" said Toady, sotto voce.
"We were just saying we were afraid you wouldn't"—began Mary, when a warning, "Mind now, Polly," caused her to stop short and busy herself with the newcomer's bag and umbrella.
"Mercy on us! has the boy got the plague?"
"No'm, it's paint, and dirt, and glue, and it won't come off," said Toady, stroking his variegated41 countenance with grateful admiration42 for the stains that saved him.
"Go and wash this moment, sir. Thank Heaven, I've got no boys," cried Aunt Kipp. as if boys were some virulent43 disease which she had narrowly escaped.
With a hasty peck at the lips of her two elder relatives, the old lady seated herself, and slowly removed the awful bonnet, which in shape and hue44 much resembled a hearse hung with black crape.
"I'm not better," cut in Aunt Kipp. "I'm worse, much worse; my days are numbered; I stand on the brink47 of the tomb, and may drop at any moment."
Toady's face was a study, as he glanced up at the old lady's florid countenance, down at the floor, as if in search of the above-mentioned "brink," and looked unaffectedly anxious to see her drop. "Why don't you, then?" was on his lips; but a frown from Polly restrained him, and he sat himself down on the rug to contemplate48 the corpulent victim.
"Have a cup of tea, aunt?" said Mrs. Snow.
"I will."
"Lie down and rest a little," suggested Polly.
"I won't."
"Can we do anything for you?" said both.
"Take my things away, and have dinner early."
"I say, what's a bore?" asked Toady from the rug, where he sat rocking meditatively50 to and fro, holding on by his shoe-strings.
"It's a kind of a pig, very fierce, and folks are afraid of 'em," said
Aunt Kipp, whose knowledge of Natural History was limited.
"Good for Polly! so you are!" sung out the boy, with the hearty51 child's laugh so pleasant to most ears.
"Why, Polly said you were a bore," explained Toady, with artless frankness. "You are fat, you know, and fierce sometimes, and folks are afraid of you. Good, wasn't it?"
"Very! Mary is a nice, grateful, respectful, loving niece, and I shan't forget her, she may depend on that," and Aunt Kipp laughed grimly.
"May she? well, that's jolly now. She was afraid you wouldn't give her the money; so I'll tell her it's all right;" and innocent Toady nodded approvingly.
"Oh, she expects some of my money, does she?"
"Course she does; ain't you always saying you'll remember us in your will, because father was your favorite nephew, and all that? I'll tell you a secret, if you won't let Polly know I spoke53 first. You'll find it out to-night, for you 'd see Van and she were sweethearts in a minute."
"Sweethearts?" cried Aunt Kipp, turning red in the face.
"Yes'm. Van settled it last week, and Polly's been so happy ever since. Mother likes it, and I like it, for I'm fond of Van, though I do call him Baa-baa, because he looks like a sheep. We all like it, and we 'd all say so, if we were not afraid of you. Mother and Polly, I mean; of course we men don't mind, but we don't want a fuss. You won't make one, will you, now?"
Anything more expressive54 of brotherly good-will, persuasive55 frankness, and a placid56 consciousness of having "fixed25 it," than Toady's dirty little face, it would be hard to find. Aunt Kipp eyed him so fiercely that even before she spoke a dim suspicion that something was wrong began to dawn on his too-confiding soul.
"I don't like it, and I'll put a stop to it. I won't have any ridiculous baa-baas in my family. If Mary counts on my money to begin housekeeping with, she'll find herself mistaken; for not one penny shall she have, married or single, and you may tell her so."
Toady was so taken aback by this explosion that he let go his shoe-strings, fell over with a crash, and lay flat, with shovel57 and tongs58 spread upon him like a pall59. In rushed Mrs. Snow and Polly, to find the boy's spirits quite quenched60, for once, and Aunt Kipp in a towering passion. It all came out in one overwhelming flood of words, and Toady fled from the storm to wander round the house, a prey61 to the deepest remorse62. The meekness63 of that boy at dinner-time was so angelic that Mrs. Snow would have feared speedy translation for him, if she had not been very angry. Polly's red eyes, and Aunt Kipp's griffinesque expression of countenance, weighed upon his soul so heavily, that even roly-poly pudding failed to assuage64 his trouble, and, taking his mother into the china-closet, he anxiously inquired "if it was all up with Polly?"
"I'm afraid so, for aunt vows65 she will make a new will to-morrow, and leave every penny to the Charitable Rag-bag Society," sighed Mrs. Snow.
"I didn't mean to do it, I truly didn't! I thought I'd just 'give her a hint,' as you say. She looked all right, and laughed when I told her about being a bore, and I thought she liked it. If she was a man, I'd thrash her for making Polly cry;" and Toady shook his fist at Aunt Kipp's umbrella, which was an immense relief to his perturbed66 spirit.
"Bless the boy! I do believe he would!" cried Mrs. Snow, watching the little turkey-cock with maternal67 pride. "You can't do that: so just be careful and not make any more mischief68, dear."
"I'll try, mother; but I'm always getting into scrapes with Aunt Kipp. She's worse than measles69, any day,—such an old aggrawater! Van's coming this afternoon, won't he make her pleasant again?"
"Oh, dear, no! He will probably make things ten times worse, he's so bashful and queer. I'm afraid our last chance is gone, deary, and we must rub along as we have done."
head in the knife-tray, overcome with disappointment and regret.
But scorning to yield to unmanly tears, he was soon himself again.
Thrusting his beloved jackknife, with three blades and a file, into
Polly's hand, he whispered, brokenly,—
"Keep it forever 'n' ever; I'm awful sorry!" Then, feeling that the magnitude of this sacrifice atoned71 for everything, he went to watch for Van,—the forlorn hope to which he now clung.
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1
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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3
everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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toady
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| v.奉承；n.谄媚者，马屁精 | |
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corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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9
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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13
saucy
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| adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的 | |
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14
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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16
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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18
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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19
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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22
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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23
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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dab
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| v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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25
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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28
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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29
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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30
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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32
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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33
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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34
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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35
gruel
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| n.稀饭，粥 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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39
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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40
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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41
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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42
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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43
virulent
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| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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45
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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46
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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47
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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48
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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49
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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51
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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52
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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53
spoke
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| 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 | |
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54
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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55
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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56
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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57
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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58
tongs
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| n.钳；夹子 | |
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59
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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60
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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61
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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62
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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63
meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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64
assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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65
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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66
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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68
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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69
measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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70
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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71
atoned
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| v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的过去式和过去分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回 | |
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