Chapter 2 Rebecca's Relations

    They had been called the Sawyer girls whenMiranda at eighteen, Jane at twelve, andAurelia at eight participated in the variousactivities of village life; and when Riverboro fellinto a habit of thought or speech, it saw no reasonfor falling out of it, at any rate in the same century.

　　So although Miranda and Jane were between fiftyand sixty at the time this story opens, Riverborostill called them the Sawyer girls. They werespinsters; but Aurelia, the youngest, had made whatshe called a romantic marriage and what her sisterstermed a mighty¹ poor speculation². "There's worsethings than bein' old maids," they said; whetherthey thought so is quite another matter.

　　The element of romance in Aurelia's marriageexisted chiefly in the fact that Mr. L. D. M. Randallhad a soul above farming or trading and was a votaryof the Muses³. He taught the weekly singing-school(then a feature of village life) in half a dozenneighboring towns, he played the violin and "called off"at dances, or evoked⁴ rich harmonies from churchmelodeons on Sundays. He taught certain uncouthlads, when they were of an age to enter society, theintricacies of contra dances, or the steps of theschottische and mazurka, and he was a markedfigure in all social assemblies, though conspicuouslyabsent from town-meetings and the purely⁵ masculinegatherings at the store or tavern⁶ or bridge.

　　His hair was a little longer, his hands a littlewhiter, his shoes a little thinner, his manner a triflemore polished, than that of his soberer mates;indeed the only department of life in which he failedto shine was the making of sufficient money to liveupon. Luckily he had no responsibilities; his fatherand his twin brother had died when he was yet aboy, and his mother, whose only noteworthy achievementhad been the naming of her twin sons Marquisde Lafayette and Lorenzo de Medici Randall, hadsupported herself and educated her child by makingcoats up to the very day of her death. She was wontto say plaintively⁷, "I'm afraid the faculties⁸ was toomuch divided up between my twins. L. D. M. isawful talented, but I guess M. D. L. would 'a' benthe practical one if he'd 'a' lived.""L. D. M. was practical enough to get the richestgirl in the village," replied Mrs. Robinson.

　　"Yes," sighed his mother, "there it is again; ifthe twins could 'a' married Aurelia Sawyer, 't would'a' been all right. L. D. M. was talented 'nough toGET Reely's money, but M. D. L. would 'a' ben practical'nough to have KEP' it."Aurelia's share of the modest Sawyer propertyhad been put into one thing after another by thehandsome and luckless Lorenzo de Medici. He hada graceful⁹ and poetic¹⁰ way of making an investmentfor each new son and daughter that blessed theirunion. "A birthday present for our child, Aurelia,"he would say,--"a little nest-egg for the future;"but Aurelia once remarked in a moment of bitternessthat the hen never lived that could sit onthose eggs and hatch anything out of them.

　　Miranda and Jane had virtually washed theirhands of Aurelia when she married Lorenzo deMedici Randall. Having exhausted¹¹ the resourcesof Riverboro and its immediate¹² vicinity, theunfortunate couple had moved on and on in a steadilydecreasing scale of prosperity until they had reachedTemperance, where they had settled down andinvited fate to do its worst, an invitation which waspromptly accepted. The maiden¹³ sisters at homewrote to Aurelia two or three times a year, and sentmodest but serviceable presents to the children atChristmas, but refused to assist L. D. M. with theregular expenses of his rapidly growing family.

　　His last investment, made shortly before the birthof Miranda (named in a lively hope of favors whichnever came), was a small farm two miles fromTemperance. Aurelia managed this herself, and soit proved a home at least, and a place for theunsuccessful Lorenzo to die and to be buried from, a dutysomewhat too long deferred¹⁴, many thought, whichhe performed on the day of Mira's birth.

　　It was in this happy-go-lucky household that Rebeccahad grown up. It was just an ordinary family;two or three of the children were handsome and therest plain, three of them rather clever, two industrious,and two commonplace and dull. Rebecca hadher father's facility and had been his aptest pupil.

　　She "carried" the alto by ear, danced without beingtaught, played the melodeon without knowing thenotes. Her love of books she inherited chiefly fromher mother, who found it hard to sweep or cookor sew when there was a novel in the house.

　　Fortunately books were scarce, or the children mightsometimes have gone ragged¹⁵ and hungry.

　　But other forces had been at work in Rebecca,and the traits of unknown forbears had been wroughtinto her fibre. Lorenzo de Medici was flabby andboneless; Rebecca was a thing of fire and spirit:

　　he lacked energy and courage; Rebecca was pluckyat two and dauntless at five. Mrs. Randall andHannah had no sense of humor; Rebecca possessedand showed it as soon as she could walk and talk.

　　She had not been able, however, to borrow herparents' virtues¹⁶ and those of other generous ancestorsand escape all the weaknesses in the calendar.

　　She had not her sister Hannah's patience or herbrother John's sturdy staying power. Her will wassometimes willfulness, and the ease with which shedid most things led her to be impatient of hard tasksor long ones. But whatever else there was or wasnot, there was freedom at Randall's farm. The childrengrew, worked, fought, ate what and slept wherethey could; loved one another and their parentspretty well, but with no tropical passion; andeducated themselves for nine months of the year, eachone in his own way.

　　As a result of this method Hannah, who couldonly have been developed by forces applied¹⁷ fromwithout, was painstaking¹⁸, humdrum¹⁹, and limited;while Rebecca, who apparently²⁰ needed nothing butspace to develop in, and a knowledge of terms inwhich to express herself, grew and grew and grew,always from within outward. Her forces of one sortand another had seemingly been set in motion whenshe was born; they needed no daily spur, but movedof their own accord--towards what no one knew,least of all Rebecca herself. The field for theexhibition of her creative instinct was painfully small,and the only use she had made of it as yet was toleave eggs out of the corn bread one day and milkanother, to see how it would turn out; to partFanny's hair sometimes in the middle, sometimeson the right, and sometimes on the left side; and toplay all sorts of fantastic pranks²² with the children,occasionally bringing them to the table as fictitiousor historical characters found in her favorite books.

　　Rebecca amused her mother and her family generally,but she never was counted of seriousimportance, and though considered "smart" and old forher age, she was never thought superior in any way.

　　Aurelia's experience of genius, as exemplified in thedeceased Lorenzo de Medici led her into a greateradmiration of plain, every-day common sense, a qualityin which Rebecca, it must be confessed, seemedsometimes painfully deficient²³.

　　Hannah was her mother's favorite, so far as Aureliacould indulge herself in such recreations as partiality.

　　The parent who is obliged to feed and clotheseven children on an income of fifteen dollars amonth seldom has time to discriminate²⁴ carefullybetween the various members of her brood, but Hannahat fourteen was at once companion and partner inall her mother's problems. She it was who kept thehouse while Aurelia busied herself in barn and field.

　　Rebecca was capable of certain set tasks, such askeeping the small children from killing²⁵ themselvesand one another, feeding the poultry²⁶, picking upchips, hulling²⁷ strawberries, wiping dishes; but shewas thought irresponsible, and Aurelia, needingsomebody to lean on (having never enjoyed thatluxury with the gifted Lorenzo), leaned on Hannah.

　　Hannah showed the result of this attitude somewhat,being a trifle careworn²⁸ in face and sharp in manner;but she was a self-contained, well-behaved, dependablechild, and that is the reason her aunts had invitedher to Riverboro to be a member of their family andparticipate in all the advantages of their loftierposition in the world. It was several years sinceMiranda and Jane had seen the children, but theyremembered with pleasure that Hannah had notspoken a word during the interview, and it wasfor this reason that they had asked for the pleasureof her company. Rebecca, on the other hand, haddressed up the dog in John's clothes, and beingrequested to get the three younger children readyfor dinner, she had held them under the pump andthen proceeded to "smack²⁹" their hair flat to theirheads by vigorous brushing, bringing them to thetable in such a moist and hideous³⁰ state of shininessthat their mother was ashamed of their appearance.

　　Rebecca's own black locks were commonly pushedsmoothly off her forehead, but on this occasion sheformed what I must perforce call by its only name,a spit-curl, directly in the centre of her brow, anornament which she was allowed to wear a veryshort time, only in fact till Hannah was able to callher mother's attention to it, when she was sentinto the next room to remove it and to come backlooking like a Christian³¹. This command she interpretedsomewhat too literally³² perhaps, because shecontrived in a space of two minutes an extremelypious style of hairdressing, fully²¹ as effective if notas startling as the first. These antics were solelythe result of nervous irritation³³, a mood born of MissMiranda Sawyer's stiff, grim, and martial³⁴ attitude.

　　The remembrance of Rebecca was so vivid that theirsister Aurelia's letter was something of a shock tothe quiet, elderly spinsters of the brick house; forit said that Hannah could not possibly be sparedfor a few years yet, but that Rebecca would comeas soon as she could be made ready; that the offerwas most thankfully appreciated, and that the regularschooling and church privileges, as well as theinfluence of the Sawyer home, would doubtless be"the making of Rebecca"

1 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

4 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

5 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

6 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

7 plaintively   

adv.悲哀地，哀怨地

参考例句：

• The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

10 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

11 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 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。

14 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

15 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

16 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

17 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。

18 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

19 humdrum   

adj.单调的，乏味的

参考例句：

• Their lives consist of the humdrum activities of everyday existence.他们的生活由日常生存的平凡活动所构成。
• The accountant said it was the most humdrum day that she had ever passed.会计师说这是她所度过的最无聊的一天。

20 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

21 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

22 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

23 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

24 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

25 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

26 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

27 hulling   

造船身的材料

参考例句：

• Note: The machine be used in both coffee hulling and rice milling. 注：该机即可用于咖啡脱壳亦可用于碾米。
• Note: machine be used in both coffee hulling and rice milling. 产品说明：注：该机即可用于咖啡脱壳亦可用于碾米。

28 careworn   

adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的

参考例句：

• It's sad to see the careworn face of the mother of a large poor family.看到那贫穷的一大家子的母亲忧劳憔悴的脸庞心里真是难受。
• The old woman had a careworn look on her face.老妇脸上露出忧心忡忡的神色。

29 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

30 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

31 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。

32 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

33 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。

34 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。