As the pony5 had now thrown off all disguise, and without any mincing6 of the matter or beating about the bush, sturdily refused to be driven by anybody but Kit7, it generally happened that whether old Mr Garland came, or Mr Abel, Kit was of the party. Of all messages and inquiries8, Kit was, in right of his position, the bearer; thus it came about that, while the single gentleman remained indisposed, Kit turned into Bevis Marks every morning with nearly as much regularity9 as the General Postman.
Mr Sampson Brass10, who no doubt had his reasons for looking sharply about him, soon learnt to distinguish the pony’s trot11 and the clatter12 of the little chaise at the corner of the street. Whenever the sound reached his ears, he would immediately lay down his pen and fall to rubbing his hands and exhibiting the greatest glee.
‘Ha ha!’ he would cry. ‘Here’s the pony again! Most remarkable13 pony, extremely docile14, eh, Mr Richard, eh sir?’
Dick would return some matter-of-course reply, and Mr Brass standing15 on the bottom rail of his stool, so as to get a view of the street over the top of the window-blind, would take an observation of the visitors.
‘The old gentleman again!’ he would exclaim, ‘a very prepossessing old gentleman, Mr Richard — charming countenance16 sir — extremely calm — benevolence17 in every feature, sir. He quite realises my idea of King Lear, as he appeared when in possession of his kingdom, Mr Richard — the same good humour, the same white hair and partial baldness, the same liability to be imposed upon. Ah! A sweet subject for contemplation, sir, very sweet!’
Then Mr Garland having alighted and gone up-stairs, Sampson would nod and smile to Kit from the window, and presently walk out into the street to greet him, when some such conversation as the following would ensue.
‘Admirably groomed18, Kit’— Mr Brass is patting the pony —‘does you great credit — amazingly sleek19 and bright to be sure. He literally20 looks as if he had been varnished21 all over.’
Kit touches his hat, smiles, pats the pony himself, and expresses his conviction, ‘that Mr Brass will not find many like him.’
‘A beautiful animal indeed!’ cries Brass. ‘Sagacious too?’
‘Bless you!’ replies Kit, ‘he knows what you say to him as well as a Christian22 does.’
‘Does he indeed!’ cries Brass, who has heard the same thing in the same place from the same person in the same words a dozen times, but is paralysed with astonishment23 notwithstanding. ‘Dear me!’
‘I little thought the first time I saw him, Sir,’ says Kit, pleased with the attorney’s strong interest in his favourite, ‘that I should come to be as intimate with him as I am now.’
‘Ah!’ rejoins Mr Brass, brim-full of moral precepts24 and love of virtue25. ‘A charming subject of reflection for you, very charming. A subject of proper pride and congratulation, Christopher. Honesty is the best policy. — I always find it so myself. I lost forty-seven pound ten by being honest this morning. But it’s all gain, it’s gain!’
Mr Brass slyly tickles26 his nose with his pen, and looks at Kit with the water standing in his eyes. Kit thinks that if ever there was a good man who belied27 his appearance, that man is Sampson Brass.
‘A man,’ says Sampson, ‘who loses forty-seven pound ten in one morning by his honesty, is a man to be envied. If it had been eighty pound, the luxuriousness28 of feeling would have been increased. Every pound lost, would have been a hundredweight of happiness gained. The still small voice, Christopher,’ cries Brass, smiling, and tapping himself on the bosom29, ‘is a-singing comic songs within me, and all is happiness and joy!’
Kit is so improved by the conversation, and finds it go so completely home to his feelings, that he is considering what he shall say, when Mr Garland appears. The old gentleman is helped into the chaise with great obsequiousness30 by Mr Sampson Brass; and the pony, after shaking his head several times, and standing for three or four minutes with all his four legs planted firmly on the ground, as if he had made up his mind never to stir from that spot, but there to live and die, suddenly darts31 off, without the smallest notice, at the rate of twelve English miles an hour. Then, Mr Brass and his sister (who has joined him at the door) exchange an odd kind of smile — not at all a pleasant one in its expression — and return to the society of Mr Richard Swiveller, who, during their absence, has been regaling himself with various feats32 of pantomime, and is discovered at his desk, in a very flushed and heated condition, violently scratching out nothing with half a penknife.
Whenever Kit came alone, and without the chaise, it always happened that Sampson Brass was reminded of some mission, calling Mr Swiveller, if not to Peckham Rye again, at all events to some pretty distant place from Which he could not be expected to return for two or three hours, or in all probability a much longer period, as that gentleman was not, to say the truth, renowned33 for using great expedition on such occasions, but rather for protracting34 and spinning out the time to the very utmost limit of possibility. Mr Swiveller out of sight, Miss Sally immediately withdrew. Mr Brass would then set the office-door wide open, hum his old tune35 with great gaiety of heart, and smile seraphically as before. Kit coming down-stairs would be called in; entertained with some moral and agreeable conversation; perhaps entreated36 to mind the office for an instant while Mr Brass stepped over the way; and afterwards presented with one or two half-crowns as the case might be. This occurred so often, that Kit, nothing doubting but that they came from the single gentleman who had already rewarded his mother with great liberality, could not enough admire his generosity37; and bought so many cheap presents for her, and for little Jacob, and for the baby, and for Barbara to boot, that one or other of them was having some new trifle every day of their lives.
While these acts and deeds were in progress in and out of the office of Sampson Brass, Richard Swiveller, being often left alone therein, began to find the time hang heavy on his hands. For the better preservation38 of his cheerfulness therefore, and to prevent his faculties39 from rusting40, he provided himself with a cribbage-board and pack of cards, and accustomed himself to play at cribbage with a dummy41, for twenty, thirty, or sometimes even fifty thousand pounds aside, besides many hazardous42 bets to a considerable amount.
As these games were very silently conducted, notwithstanding the magnitude of the interests involved, Mr Swiveller began to think that on those evenings when Mr and Miss Brass were out (and they often went out now) he heard a kind of snorting or hard-breathing sound in the direction of the door, which it occurred to him, after some reflection, must proceed from the small servant, who always had a cold from damp living. Looking intently that way one night, he plainly distinguished43 an eye gleaming and glistening44 at the keyhole; and having now no doubt that his suspicions were correct, he stole softly to the door, and pounced45 upon her before she was aware of his approach.
‘Oh! I didn’t mean any harm indeed, upon my word I didn’t,’ cried the small servant, struggling like a much larger one. ‘It’s so very dull, down-stairs, Please don’t you tell upon me, please don’t.’
‘Tell upon you!’ said Dick. ‘Do you mean to say you were looking through the keyhole for company?’
‘Yes, upon my word I was,’ replied the small servant.
‘How long have you been cooling your eye there?’ said Dick.
‘Oh ever since you first began to play them cards, and long before.’
Vague recollections of several fantastic exercises with which he had refreshed himself after the fatigues46 of business, and to all of which, no doubt, the small servant was a party, rather disconcerted Mr Swiveller; but he was not very sensitive on such points, and recovered himself speedily.
‘Well — come in’— he said, after a little consideration. ‘Here — sit down, and I’ll teach you how to play.’
‘Oh! I durstn’t do it,’ rejoined the small servant; ‘Miss Sally ’ud kill me, if she know’d I come up here.’
‘Have you got a fire down-stairs?’ said Dick.
‘A very little one,’ replied the small servant.
‘Miss Sally couldn’t kill me if she know’d I went down there, so I’ll come,’ said Richard, putting the cards into his pocket. ‘Why, how thin you are! What do you mean by it?’
‘It ain’t my fault.’
‘Could you eat any bread and meat?’ said Dick, taking down his hat. ‘Yes? Ah! I thought so. Did you ever taste beer?’ ‘I had a sip47 of it once,’ said the small servant.
‘Here’s a state of things!’ cried Mr Swiveller, raising his eyes to the ceiling. ‘She never tasted it — it can’t be tasted in a sip! Why, how old are you?’
‘I don’t know.’
Mr Swiveller opened his eyes very wide, and appeared thoughtful for a moment; then, bidding the child mind the door until he came back, vanished straightway.
Presently, he returned, followed by the boy from the public-house, who bore in one hand a plate of bread and beef, and in the other a great pot, filled with some very fragrant48 compound, which sent forth49 a grateful steam, and was indeed choice purl, made after a particular recipe which Mr Swiveller had imparted to the landlord, at a period when he was deep in his books and desirous to conciliate his friendship. Relieving the boy of his burden at the door, and charging his little companion to fasten it to prevent surprise, Mr Swiveller followed her into the kitchen.
‘There!’ said Richard, putting the plate before her. ‘First of all clear that off, and then you’ll see what’s next.’
The small servant needed no second bidding, and the plate was soon empty.
‘Next,’ said Dick, handing the purl, ‘take a pull at that; but moderate your transports, you know, for you’re not used to it. Well, is it good?’
‘Oh! isn’t it?’ said the small servant.
Mr Swiveller appeared gratified beyond all expression by this reply, and took a long draught50 himself, steadfastly51 regarding his companion while he did so. These preliminaries disposed of, he applied52 himself to teaching her the game, which she soon learnt tolerably well, being both sharp-witted and cunning.
‘Now,’ said Mr Swiveller, putting two sixpences into a saucer, and trimming the wretched candle, when the cards had been cut and dealt, ‘those are the stakes. If you win, you get ’em all. If I win, I get ’em. To make it seem more real and pleasant, I shall call you the Marchioness, do you hear?’
The small servant nodded.
‘Then, Marchioness,’ said Mr Swiveller, ‘fire away!’
The Marchioness, holding her cards very tight in both hands, considered which to play, and Mr Swiveller, assuming the gay and fashionable air which such society required, took another pull at the tankard, and waited for her lead.
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收听单词发音
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1
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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11
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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12
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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groomed
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| v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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tickles
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| （使）发痒( tickle的第三人称单数 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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luxuriousness
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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obsequiousness
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| 媚骨 | |
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31
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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protracting
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| v.延长，拖延（某事物）( protract的现在分词 ) | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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rusting
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| n.生锈v.（使）生锈( rust的现在分词 ) | |
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dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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44
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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45
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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46
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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47
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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48
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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50
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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51
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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