“Stand still till I’ve been for the scissors,” said Mrs. Dewy.
The tranter stood as still as a sentinel at the challenge.
The only repairs necessary were a trimming of one or two whiskers that had extended beyond the general contour of the mass; a like trimming of a slightly-frayed edge visible on his shirt-collar; and a final tug5 at a grey hair — to all of which operations he submitted in resigned silence, except the last, which produced a mild “Come, come, Ann,” by way of expostulation.
“Really, Reuben, ’tis quite a disgrace to see such a man,” said Mrs. Dewy, with the severity justifiable6 in a long-tried companion, giving him another turn round, and picking several of Smiler’s hairs from the shoulder of his coat. Reuben’s thoughts seemed engaged elsewhere, and he yawned. “And the collar of your coat is a shame to behold7 — so plastered with dirt, or dust, or grease, or something. Why, wherever could you have got it?”
“’Tis my warm nater in summer-time, I suppose. I always did get in such a heat when I bustle8 about.”
“Ay, the Dewys always were such a coarse-skinned family. There’s your brother Bob just as bad — as fat as a porpoise9 — wi’ his low, mean, ‘How’st do, Ann?’ whenever he meets me. I’d ‘How’st do’ him indeed! If the sun only shines out a minute, there be you all streaming in the face — I never see!”
“If I be hot week-days, I must be hot Sundays.”
“If any of the girls should turn after their father ’twill be a bad look-out for ’em, poor things! None of my family were sich vulgar sweaters, not one of ’em. But, Lord-a-mercy, the Dewys! I don’t know how ever I cam’ into such a family!”
“Your woman’s weakness when I asked ye to jine us. That’s how it was I suppose.” But the tranter appeared to have heard some such words from his wife before, and hence his answer had not the energy it might have shown if the inquiry10 had possessed11 the charm of novelty.
“You never did look so well in a pair o’ trousers as in them,” she continued in the same unimpassioned voice, so that the unfriendly criticism of the Dewy family seemed to have been more normal than spontaneous. “Such a cheap pair as ’twas too. As big as any man could wish to have, and lined inside, and double-lined in the lower parts, and an extra piece of stiffening12 at the bottom. And ’tis a nice high cut that comes up right under your armpits, and there’s enough turned down inside the seams to make half a pair more, besides a piece of cloth left that will make an honest waistcoat — all by my contriving13 in buying the stuff at a bargain, and having it made up under my eye. It only shows what may be done by taking a little trouble, and not going straight to the rascally14 tailors.”
The discourse15 was cut short by the sudden appearance of Charley on the scene, with a face and hands of hideous16 blackness, and a nose like a guttering17 candle. Why, on that particularly cleanly afternoon, he should have discovered that the chimney-crook and chain from which the hams were suspended should have possessed more merits and general interest as playthings than any other articles in the house, is a question for nursing mothers to decide. However, the humour seemed to lie in the result being, as has been seen, that any given player with these articles was in the long-run daubed with soot18. The last that was seen of Charley by daylight after this piece of ingenuity19 was when in the act of vanishing from his father’s presence round the corner of the house — looking back over his shoulder with an expression of great sin on his face, like Cain as the Outcast in Bible pictures.
* * *
The guests had all assembled, and the tranter’s party had reached that degree of development which accords with ten o’clock p.m. in rural assemblies. At that hour the sound of a fiddle20 in process of tuning21 was heard from the inner pantry.
“That’s Dick,” said the tranter. “That lad’s crazy for a jig22.”
“Dick! Now I cannot — really, I cannot have any dancing at all till Christmas-day is out,” said old William emphatically. “When the clock ha’ done striking twelve, dance as much as ye like.”
“Well, I must say there’s reason in that, William,” said Mrs. Penny. “If you do have a party on Christmas-night, ’tis only fair and honourable23 to the sky-folk to have it a sit-still party. Jigging24 parties be all very well on the Devil’s holidays; but a jigging party looks suspicious now. O yes; stop till the clock strikes, young folk — so say I.”
It happened that some warm mead25 accidentally got into Mr. Spinks’s head about this time.
“Dancing,” he said, “is a most strengthening, livening, and courting movement, ‘specially with a little beverage26 added! And dancing is good. But why disturb what is ordained27, Richard and Reuben, and the company zhinerally? Why, I ask, as far as that do go?”
“Then nothing till after twelve,” said William.
Though Reuben and his wife ruled on social points, religious questions were mostly disposed of by the old man, whose firmness on this head quite counterbalanced a certain weakness in his handling of domestic matters. The hopes of the younger members of the household were therefore relegated28 to a distance of one hour and three-quarters — a result that took visible shape in them by a remote and listless look about the eyes — the singing of songs being permitted in the interim29.
At five minutes to twelve the soft tuning was again heard in the back quarters; and when at length the clock had whizzed forth30 the last stroke, Dick appeared ready primed, and the instruments were boldly handled; old William very readily taking the bass-viol from its accustomed nail, and touching31 the strings32 as irreligiously as could be desired.
The country-dance called the ‘Triumph, or Follow my Lover,’ was the figure with which they opened. The tranter took for his partner Mrs. Penny, and Mrs. Dewy was chosen by Mr. Penny, who made so much of his limited height by a judicious33 carriage of the head, straightening of the back, and important flashes of his spectacle-glasses, that he seemed almost as tall as the tranter. Mr. Shiner, age about thirty-five, farmer and church-warden, a character principally composed of a crimson34 stare, vigorous breath, and a watch-chain, with a mouth hanging on a dark smile but never smiling, had come quite willingly to the party, and showed a wondrous35 obliviousness36 of all his antics on the previous night. But the comely37, slender, prettily-dressed prize Fancy Day fell to Dick’s lot, in spite of some private machinations of the farmer, for the reason that Mr. Shiner, as a richer man, had shown too much assurance in asking the favour, whilst Dick had been duly courteous38.
We gain a good view of our heroine as she advances to her place in the ladies’ line. She belonged to the taller division of middle height. Flexibility39 was her first characteristic, by which she appeared to enjoy the most easeful rest when she was in gliding40 motion. Her dark eyes — arched by brows of so keen, slender, and soft a curve, that they resembled nothing so much as two slurs41 in music — showed primarily a bright sparkle each. This was softened42 by a frequent thoughtfulness, yet not so frequent as to do away, for more than a few minutes at a time, with a certain coquettishness; which in its turn was never so decided43 as to banish44 honesty. Her lips imitated her brows in their clearly-cut outline and softness of bend; and her nose was well shaped — which is saying a great deal, when it is remembered that there are a hundred pretty mouths and eyes for one pretty nose. Add to this, plentiful45 knots of dark-brown hair, a gauzy dress of white, with blue facings; and the slightest idea may be gained of the young maiden46 who showed, amidst the rest of the dancing-ladies, like a flower among vegetables. And so the dance proceeded. Mr. Shiner, according to the interesting rule laid down, deserted47 his own partner, and made off down the middle with this fair one of Dick’s — the pair appearing from the top of the room like two persons tripping down a lane to be married. Dick trotted48 behind with what was intended to be a look of composure, but which was, in fact, a rather silly expression of feature — implying, with too much earnestness, that such an elopement could not be tolerated. Then they turned and came back, when Dick grew more rigid49 around his mouth, and blushed with ingenuous50 ardour as he joined hands with the rival and formed the arch over his lady’s head; which presumably gave the figure its name; relinquishing51 her again at setting to partners, when Mr. Shiner’s new chain quivered in every link, and all the loose flesh upon the tranter — who here came into action again — shook like jelly. Mrs. Penny, being always rather concerned for her personal safety when she danced with the tranter, fixed52 her face to a chronic53 smile of timidity the whole time it lasted — a peculiarity54 which filled her features with wrinkles, and reduced her eyes to little straight lines like hyphens, as she jigged55 up and down opposite him; repeating in her own person not only his proper movements, but also the minor56 flourishes which the richness of the tranter’s imagination led him to introduce from time to time — an imitation which had about it something of slavish obedience57, not unmixed with fear.
The ear-rings of the ladies now flung themselves wildly about, turning violent summersaults, banging this way and that, and then swinging quietly against the ears sustaining them. Mrs. Crumpler — a heavy woman, who, for some reason which nobody ever thought worth inquiry, danced in a clean apron58 — moved so smoothly59 through the figure that her feet were never seen; conveying to imaginative minds the idea that she rolled on castors.
Minute after minute glided60 by, and the party reached the period when ladies’ back-hair begins to look forgotten and dissipated; when a perceptible dampness makes itself apparent upon the faces even of delicate girls — a ghastly dew having for some time rained from the features of their masculine partners; when skirts begin to be torn out of their gathers; when elderly people, who have stood up to please their juniors, begin to feel sundry61 small tremblings in the region of the knees, and to wish the interminable dance was at Jericho; when (at country parties of the thorough sort) waistcoats begin to be unbuttoned, and when the fiddlers’ chairs have been wriggled62, by the frantic63 bowing of their occupiers, to a distance of about two feet from where they originally stood.
Fancy was dancing with Mr. Shiner. Dick knew that Fancy, by the law of good manners, was bound to dance as pleasantly with one partner as with another; yet he could not help suggesting to himself that she need not have put quite so much spirit into her steps, nor smiled quite so frequently whilst in the farmer’s hands.
“I’m afraid you didn’t cast off,” said Dick mildly to Mr. Shiner, before the latter man’s watch-chain had done vibrating from a recent whirl.
Fancy made a motion of accepting the correction; but her partner took no notice, and proceeded with the next movement, with an affectionate bend towards her.
“That Shiner’s too fond of her,” the young man said to himself as he watched them. They came to the top again, Fancy smiling warmly towards her partner, and went to their places.
“Mr. Shiner, you didn’t cast off,” said Dick, for want of something else to demolish64 him with; casting off himself, and being put out at the farmer’s irregularity.
“Perhaps I sha’n’t cast off for any man,” said Mr. Shiner.
“I think you ought to, sir.”
Dick’s partner, a young lady of the name of Lizzy — called Lizz for short — tried to mollify.
“I can’t say that I myself have much feeling for casting off,” she said.
“Nor I,” said Mrs. Penny, following up the argument, “especially if a friend and neighbour is set against it. Not but that ’tis a terrible tasty thing in good hands and well done; yes, indeed, so say I.”
“All I meant was,” said Dick, rather sorry that he had spoken correctingly to a guest, “that ’tis in the dance; and a man has hardly any right to hack65 and mangle66 what was ordained by the regular dance-maker, who, I daresay, got his living by making ’em, and thought of nothing else all his life.”
“I don’t like casting off: then very well; I cast off for no dance-maker that ever lived.”
Dick now appeared to be doing mental arithmetic, the act being really an effort to present to himself, in an abstract form, how far an argument with a formidable rival ought to be carried, when that rival was his mother’s guest. The dead-lock was put an end to by the stamping arrival up the middle of the tranter, who, despising minutiae67 on principle, started a theme of his own.
“I assure you, neighbours,” he said, “the heat of my frame no tongue can tell!” He looked around and endeavoured to give, by a forcible gaze of self-sympathy, some faint idea of the truth.
Mrs. Dewy formed one of the next couple.
“Yes,” she said, in an auxiliary68 tone, “Reuben always was such a hot man.”
Mrs. Penny implied the species of sympathy that such a class of affliction required, by trying to smile and to look grieved at the same time.
“If he only walk round the garden of a Sunday morning, his shirt-collar is as limp as no starch69 at all,” continued Mrs. Dewy, her countenance70 lapsing71 parenthetically into a housewifely expression of concern at the reminiscence.
“Come, come, you women-folk; ’tis hands across — come, come!” said the tranter; and the conversation ceased for the present.
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1
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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3
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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6
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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7
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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9
porpoise
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| n.鼠海豚 | |
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10
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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11
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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12
stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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13
contriving
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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14
rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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15
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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16
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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17
guttering
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| n.用于建排水系统的材料；沟状切除术；开沟 | |
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18
soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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19
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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20
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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21
tuning
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| n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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22
jig
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| n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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23
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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jigging
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| n.跳汰选，簸选v.（使）上下急动( jig的现在分词 ) | |
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25
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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26
beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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27
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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28
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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29
interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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32
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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33
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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34
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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35
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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obliviousness
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comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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38
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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39
flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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40
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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41
slurs
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| 含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线 | |
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42
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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43
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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44
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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45
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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46
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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47
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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48
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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49
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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50
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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51
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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52
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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53
chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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54
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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55
jigged
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| v.（使）上下急动( jig的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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57
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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58
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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60
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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61
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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62
wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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63
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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64
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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65
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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66
mangle
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| vt.乱砍，撕裂，破坏，毁损，损坏，轧布 | |
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67
minutiae
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| n.微小的细节，细枝末节；（常复数）细节，小事( minutia的名词复数 ) | |
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68
auxiliary
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| adj.辅助的，备用的 | |
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69
starch
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| n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆 | |
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70
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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71
lapsing
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| v.退步( lapse的现在分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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