Need I say how welcome Tom was? He asked in a minute or two for Marjory, and took her temporary absence with great good-humour. Tom affected3 chilliness4, and indeed the evening was a little sharp, and proposed that they should retire to the cottage, and sit down there.
“How soon do you suppose, youngster, the-old hen will come home?”
“Who?”
“Marjory Daw, down the chimney.”
“Oh, Granny!”
This nickname was the only pleasantry of Mr. Orange which did not quite please the boy.
Tom Orange here interpolated his performance of the jackdaw, with his eyelids5 turned inside out and the pupils quivering, which, although it may possibly have resembled the jackdaw of heraldry, was not an exact portraiture6 of the bird familiar to us in natural history; and when this was over he asked again—“How soon will she be home?”
“She walked down to the town, and I think she can’t be more than about half-way back again.”
“That’s a mile, and three miles au hour is the best of her paces if she was runnin’ for a pound o’ sausages and a new cap.
Heigh ho! and alas7 and alack—a—day. No one at home but the maid, and the maid’s gone to church! I wrote her a letter the day before yesterday, and I must read it again before she comes back. Where does she keep her letters? ”
“In her work-box on the shelf.”
“This will be it, the wery identical fiddle8!” said Tom Orange, playfully, setting it down upon the little deal table, and, opening it, he took out the little sheaf of letters from the end, and took them one by one to the window, where he took the liberty of reading them.
I think he was disappointed, for he pitched them back again into their nook in the little trunk-shaped box contemptuously.
The boy regarded Tom Orange as a friend of the family so confidential9, and as a man in all respects so admirable and virtuous10, that nothing appeared more desirable and natural than that excellent person’s giving his attention to the domestic correspondence.
He popped the box back again in its berth11.
Then he treated the young gentleman to Lingo’s song with the rag-tag-merry-derry perrywig and hatband, &c., and at the conclusion of the performance admitted that he was “dry,” and with a pleasant wink12, and the tip of his finger pushing the end of his nose a good deal to the left, he asked him whether he could tell him where Mrs. Trevellian, who would be deeply grieved if she thought that Tom was detained for a drink till her return, kept her liquor.
“Yes, I can show you,” said the boy.
“Wait a minute, my guide, my comforter, and friend,” said Tom Orange; and he ascertained13 from the door-stone that no one was inconveniently14 near.
The boy was getting a tea-cup off the shelf.
“Never mind sugar, my hero, I’ll sweeten it with a thought of Marjory Daw.”
The boy explained, and led him into the dark nook by the hall door. Tom Orange, well pleased, moved almost on tip-toe, and looked curiously15 and spoke16 under his breath, as he groped in this twilight17.
“Here it is,” said the boy, frankly18.
“Where?”
“Here.”
“This!” said Tom, for his friend had uncovered a crock of water.
Tom Orange glared at him and at the water with grotesque19 surprise, and the bona fides of the boy and the simplicity20 of the situation struck Tom comically, and, exploding good-humouredly, he sat down in Marjory’s chair and laughed hilariously21.
Having satisfied himself by a confidential dialogue that Marjory Daw had no private bottle of comfort anywhere, this agreeable fellow so far forgot his thirst, that he did not mind drawing water from the crock, and talked on a variety of subjects to the young gentleman. In the course of this conversation he asked him two topographical questions. One was—
“Did you ever hear of a place called Car well Grange?”
And the other resembled it.
“Did you ever hear of a place called Wyvern?”
“No.”
“Think, lad. Did you never hear Mrs. Trevellian speak of Wyvern? Or of Carwell Grange?”
“No.”
“Because there is the tallest mushroom you ever saw in your life growing there, and it is grown to that degree that it blocks the door so that the Squire22 can’t get into his own house, and the mushroom is counted one of the wonders of the world, upon my little word of honour as a gentleman! And
‘Since there’s neither drink nor victuals23,
Suppose, my lord, we play at skittles?’
And if she’s not back by the end of the game, tell her I had to go on to the bridge to see lame24 Bill Withershins, and I’ll be back again this evening, I think, or in the morning at latest.”
The game was played, but Marjory did not appear, and Tom Orange, entertaining his young friend with a ludicrous imitation of Bill Withershins’ knock-knees, took his departure, leaving his delighted companion in the state which Moore describes as being usual
“When the lamp that lighted
The traveller at first goes out.”
So, having watched Tom till he was quite out of sight, he returned to his neglected navy on the pond, and delivered his admirable Crichton’s message to Marjory Daw on her return.
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收听单词发音
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1
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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2
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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3
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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4
chilliness
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| n.寒冷，寒意，严寒 | |
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5
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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7
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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8
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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9
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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10
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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11
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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12
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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13
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
inconveniently
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| ad.不方便地 | |
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15
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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16
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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17
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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18
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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19
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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20
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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21
hilariously
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22
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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23
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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24
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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