11 THE SPIDER AFFAIR

11 THE SPIDER AFFAIR
THE first lesson that afternoon was mental arithmetic. The girls groaned¹ over this, except the quickones, like Irene, who delighted in it. But it meant that there was no need for anyone to open a desk,because it was all oral work.
Miss Potts was lenient² with the girls, for it was a very hot afternoon. Darrell was glad that Miss Pottswas not as exacting³ as usual, for arithmetic was not her strong point, especially mental arithmetic.
The next leson was to be taken by Mam'zelle Dupont. It was to be a French conversation lesson, inwhich the girls would endeavour to answer all Mam'zelle's simple questions in French. Miss Pottsleft, and Mam'zelle arrived, not quite so beaming as usual, because of the heat. She was too plump toenjoy the hot weather, and little beads⁴ of perspiration⁵ shone on her forehead as she sat down at thebig desk, opposite the rows of girls.
'Assevez-vous,' she said, and the girls sat down thankfully, feeling that the only lesson they wouldreally enjoy that weather would be a swimming lesson.
The lesson proceeded slowly and haltingly. The flow of French conversation was not at all brisk onthe girls' part, and the constant pauses began to irritate Mam'zelle.
'Ah!' she cried at last, 'it is too hot to make conversation with such stupid ones as you are thisafternoon! Get out your grammar books and I w ill explain a few things to you that will help yourconversation if you can get them into your so-stupid heads!'
The girls opened their desks to get out their grammar books. Gwendoline watched eagerly to seewhat would happen when Mary-Lou opened hers. But nothing did happen. Mary Lou had neitherseen the spider nor disturbed it. She shut her desk.
All the girls opened their grammar books at the page Mam'zelle commanded. Then Mary-Lou foundthat she had her English grammar instead of her French one. So she re?opened her desk to get theright book.
Que /aires vous, Mary-Lou?" demanded Mam'zelle, who hated desks being opened and shut toooften. 'What are you doing?'
Mary-Lou stuffed her English grammar into the back of her desk and pulled out the French one. Thespider, feeling itself dislodged by the book, ran out in a fright. It ran almost up to Mary-Lou beforeshe saw it. She let the desk-lid drop with a terrific bang and gave a heart-rending scream.
Everyone jumped in alarm. Mam'zelle leapt to her feet, sending a pile of books clattering⁶ from herdesk to the floor. She glared at Mary-Lou.
'Tiensl What is this noise! Mary-Lou, have you gone mad?'
Mary-Lou couldn't speak. The sight of the enormous spider apparently⁷ running straight at her hadcompletely undone⁸ her. She scraped her chair away from her desk, and stared at it as if she expectedthe spider to jump through the lid.
'Mary-Lou!' thundered Mam'zelle. 'Tell me what is the matter with you? 1 demand it!"'Oh, Mam'zelle—there's a—there's a simply enormous—giant—spider in my desk!' stammered⁹ Mary-Lou, quite pale.
'A spider?' said Mam'zelle. 'And you make this fuss, and call out so loudly that we all jump in fear!
Mary-Lou, be ashamed of yourself! I am angry with you. Sit down.'
'Oh—I—I daren't,' said Mary-Lou, trembling. 'It might come out. Mam'zelle, it's enormous.'
Mam'zelle wasn't quite sure whether she really believed in this spider or not. What with Alicia'sdeafness last week and one thing and another...
Irene giggled¹⁰. Mam'zelle fixed¹¹ her with a glare. 'We will see if this spider exists or not,' she said,firmly. 'And I warn you, Mary-Lou, if this is again a trick, and there is no spider, you will go to MissPotts for punishment. I wash my hands of you.'
She advanced to the desk. She threw open the lid dramatically. Mary-Lou drew in her breath and gotaway as far as she could, looking at the inside of the desk with scared eyes.
There was no spider to be seen. It had, of course, retreated to the darkest corner it could find again.
Mam'zelle swept the desk with a searching glance and then turned on poor Mary-Lou.
'Bad girl,' she said, and stamped her foot. 'You, so quiet and good, you too deceive me, the poorMam'zelle! I will not have it.'
'Mam'zelle, do believe me,' begged Mary-Lou, in despair, for she could not bear to be scolded likethat. 'It was there— an enormous one."
Mam'zelle rummaged¹² violently among the books in the desk. 'No spider! Not one!' she said. 'Tell me,where has it gone, if it is still in there?'
...
The spider was alarmed by the violent rummaging¹³. Itsuddenly hurried out from its hiding-place, and ran on to Mam'zelle's hand and up her arm.
Mam'zelle stared at the enormous thing as if she really could not believe her eyes. She gave a shriekeven louder than Mary-Lou had given! She too was scared of spiders, and here was a giant specimenrunning over her person!
Irene exploded. That was the signal for the class to enter into the fun, and one and all scrambled¹⁴ overto Mam'zelle.
'Ah, where is it, the monster? Girls, girls, can you see it?' wailed¹⁵ Mam'zelle.
'It's here,' said wicked Alicia and ran a light finger down Mam'zelle's spine¹⁶. She gave a scream,thinking that it was the spider running there. 'Take it off! I beg you, Alicia, remove it from me!'
T think it must have gone down your neck, Mam'zelle,' said Betty, which nearly made Mam'zellehave a fit. She immediately felt sure that it was well all over her, and began to shiver and tremble.
Alicia tickled¹⁷ the back of her neck and she leapt in the air. 'Oh, la la! Oh, la la! What a miserablewoman I am! Where is this monster? Girls, girls, tell me it is gone!'
There was now a complete uproar¹⁸ in the first-form room. Miss Potts, again in the second-form room,was amazed and exasperated¹⁹. What could her form be doing now? Had Mam'zelle left them alone,and had they all gone mad?
'Go on with your maps for a minute,' she said to the second form, who were glancing at one anotherin astonishment²⁰, as they heard the noise from the first-form room. She left the room and went rapidlyto the door of the first form.
She opened it and the noise hit her like something solid. Worse than Break, she thought grimly. Atfirst she could not see any mistress there at all, and thought that the girls were alone. Then she caughtsight of Mam'zelle's head in the
middle of a crowd of girls. What vim²¹ happening!
'Girls!' she said, but her voice went unheard. 'GIRLS!' Irene suddenly saw her and started to nudgeeveryone. 'Look out here's Potty,' she hissed²².
The girls flowed back from Mam'zelle as if they were water! In a trice every one was by her desk.
Mam'zelle stood alone, trembling, wondering what was happening. Where had that monster of aspider gone?
'Mam'zelle, really!' said Miss Potts, almost forgetting the rule the staff had of never finding fault withone another before the girls. ' I simply cannot think what happens to this class when you take it!'
Mam'zelle blinked at Miss Potts. 'It was a spider,' she explained, looking up and down herself. 'Ah,Miss Potts, but a MONSTER of a spider. It ran up my arm and disappeared. Ah-h-h-h-h! I seem tofeel it everywhere.'
'A spider won't hurt you,' said Miss Potts, coldly and unfeelingly. 'Would you like to go and recoveryourself, Mam'zelle, and let me deal with the first form?'
'Ah non!' said Mam'zelle, indignantly. 'The class, it is good—the girls, they came to help me to getthis monster of a spider. So big it was, Miss Potts!'
Miss Potts looked so disbelieving that Mam'zelle exaggerated the size of the spider, and held out herhands to show Miss Potts that it was at least as big as fair-sized frog.
The girls had enjoyed everything immensely. What a French lesson! Gwendoline had enjoyed it too,especially as she was the cause of it, though nobody knew that, of course. She sat demurely²³ in herdesk, watching the two mistresses closely.
And then suddenly she felt something running up her leg! She looked down. It was the spider! It hadleft Mam'zelle a long time ago, and had secreted²⁴ itself under a desk, afraid of all the trampling²⁵ feetaround. Now, when peace seemed
restored, the spider wanted to seek a better hiding-place. It ran over Gwendoline's shoe, up herstocking and above her knee. She gave a piercing scream. Everyone jumped again. Miss Potts turnedfiercely.
'Gwendoline! Go out of the room! How dare you squeal²⁶ like that! No, don't tell me you've seen thespider. I'm tired of the spider. I'm ashamed of you all!'
Gwendoline shook herself violently, not daring to scream again, but filled with the utmost horror atthe thought of the spider creeping over her.
'It was the spider!' she began. 'It...'
'GWENDOLINE! What did I tell you! I will NOT hear another word of the wretched spider!' saidMiss Potts, raising her voice angrily. 'Go out of the room. The whole class can go to bed one hourearlier tonight as a punishment for this shameful²⁷ behaviour, and you, Gwendoline, can go two hoursearlier!'
Weeping, Gwendoline ran from the room. As soon as she got outside she examined herself carefullyand tremblingly to see if the spider was still anywhere about her. To her enormous relief she suddenlysaw it running down the passage.
She leant against the wall. How tiresome²⁸ of that spider to come to her, when it might have gone toanyone else! Now she had got to have double punishment. Still, she would soon put it about thatAlicia and Darrell had planted the spider in Mary-Lou's desk! How sickening of Miss Potts to pounceon her like that. She couldn't help it if the spider came to her.
But perhaps after all it was a good thing that Miss Potts had come into the room and heard it all.
Perhaps Gwendoline might even drop a hint to Miss Potts about Alicia and Darrell putting the spiderin the desk.
Miss Potts came out of the room at this moment. Sheeyed Gwendoline with dislike.
'Miss Potts, the spider ran away down there,' said Gwendoline, pointing, anxious to get back intoMiss Potts's good books.
Miss Potts took not the slightest notice but swept into the second-form classroom, and the door shut.
Gwendoline felt very small. Now what was she to do? Stay out here—or go back into the classroom?'
She didn't want to be found out there if by any chance Miss Grayling, the Head, came by. Shedecided to risk going back. She opened the door and sidled in.
'Ha! You are back again! And who told you to come?' demanded Mam'zelle, now ashamed of her partin the affair, and ready to vent²⁹ her humiliated³⁰ feelings on anyone she could. "You screamed and madeMiss Potts white and angry!'
'Well, Mam'zelle, you screamed too,' protested Gwendoline, in an injured tone. 'Louder than 1 did, Ishould think.'
Mam'zelle rose in her seat, and for all her smallness she seemed enormous to Gwendol ine j ust then.
Her beady black eyes flashed.
'You would be rude to me, Mam'zelle Dupont! You would argue with me, who have taught here fortwenty years! You—you...'
Gwendoline turned and fled. She would rather stand outside the door all day long than faceMam'zelle when she looked like that!

1 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

3 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

4 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

5 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

6 clattering   

发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
• The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

7 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。

8 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

9 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

10 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

13 rummaging   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查

参考例句：

• She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
• Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着？

14 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

16 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

17 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

18 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

19 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

20 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

21 vim   

n.精力，活力

参考例句：

• He set to his task with renewed vim and vigour.他再度抖擞精神，手完成自己的工作。
• This young fellow does his work with vim and vigour.这小伙子干活真冲。

22 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

23 demurely   

adv.装成端庄地，认真地

参考例句：

• "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额，像个好哥哥那样，"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘（部分）
• Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛，低声细语，或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分

24 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

26 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

27 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

28 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

29 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

30 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。