Chapter 12

“Too bad,” said the movie-laundry owner. “Tsk, tsk,” said Brother Walker. And, as he had learned the comment from Joe Palooka, it came out “tisk tisk,” the way he assumed it was pronounced. “Yeah. Too damn bad.” “Too damn many years in the woods for an old fellow; it’s a shame.” “Shame?” said the logger. “It’s a fuckin’ crime, is what it is, pardon me, Brother Walker, but I feel strongly about it.” Then, moved to even greater passion and recalling his interrupted argument, he slammed his black-fuzzed fist down on the table. “But it is a fuckin’ crime! And a sin! That a poor old jack² like him should hafta—Listen now: pensions and guaranteed annual wage, ain’t that what Floyd Evenwrite been preachin’ about for nearly two years?” “That’s right, that is the truth.” They were getting back in gear again. “The trouble with this town is we can’t get behind the very organization that is built to help us: the union!” “My God; ain’t Floyd been sayin’ so? He says Jonathan Bailey Draeger says that Wakonda is years behind the other woods towns. And that has become my thinking exactly.” “And that sort of thinkin’ brings us right back to you-knowwho and his whole hardnosed brood!” “Right! Exactly!” The man in the hat slammed the table again. “A shame!” “And as much as I personally like an’ admire Hank and his folks—Christ, didn’t we grow up together?—I for one am of the opinion that right there is where our issue is, ifn you got to aim a gun someplace—right out there at that house, in my opinion.” “Amen, brother.”  “Goddam right amen! Now you all look.” Startled again by the violence of this order, Teddy raises his eyes. “Ifn you got to point a finger, then right that way is the way you point it!” Looking through the glass he is polishing, Teddy sees the finger spring thrusting from the greasy³, black-fuzzed fist. “Right out at that goddamned house!” ...the jukebox whirs, bubbles, pulsing color. The electric screen buzzes. The men breathe softly together. The finger, a knuckled⁴ iron rod there in the slanting⁵ late-afternoon sun, swings slowly to fix like a compass needle. The house. Brute⁶, monolithic⁷ structure, thick now with the light of coming dawn and noisy already with the preparations for breakfast . . . “Yeah, you may be right, Henderson.” “Damn right I’m right! If you want my considered opinion, there’s where your trouble is!” Lights and shouts pouring from the kitchen window; laughter, curses. “Wake it an’ shake it, boys. The ol’ man’s already out ahead of ya, old an’ crippled as he is.” And the ringing smell of frying sausages. This is Hank’s bell. This is the way he likes it. This is Hank’s bell ringing. And from behind his bar, standing⁸ out of the sun, Teddy watches the men and listens to their logic⁹ and is secretly certain that the trouble is not financial—just now, during that idiotic¹⁰ discussion on the lack of working capital, he’d brought in close to twelve dollars, and in broad daylight—and also seriously doubts that it could all be laid at the doorstep of that Stamper house. No, it is another trouble. In his considered opinion . . . “Say, by the way, Henderson, your mentioning Floyd brings to mind: I haven’t seen him in a good day or so.” West of the house, in her shack¹¹ on the mudflats, Indian Jenny rises from her cot and dons a rose-red dress turned mudflat brown, and begins to wonder whom to blame for the sorry state of her life and why can’t she ever find her goddam Saint Christopher medal? South, Jonathan Bailey Draeger watches the road ahead for a place to spend the night before continuing on to Oregon. East, a postman tries to interpret the penciled scrawl¹² of a threepenny postcard’s address and almost gives up ...  “Yeah, where is Evenwrite?” “Up north, in Portland. Tryin’ to get the goods once an’ for all on this very subject we been discussing, by God...” The fist closes, but the finger still points. The old house hunches¹³ over breakfast, still noisy and bustly, and ignorant of the fingers beginning to swing from all around the country in a polarization of blame, beginning to converge¹⁴ like points on a constricting¹⁵ circle. . . . Up North, in Portland, Floyd Evenwrite sat like a rubber toy in a forty-dollar suit, stiff and inscrutable and gas-filled. He had just finished plowing¹⁶ laboriously¹⁸ through a pile of yellow paper. The papers, once neat and crisp, lay on the table in front of him like a pile of limp fallen leaves. You could see the sweat on the papers. His hands always sweated a lot when he used them for anything besides manual labor¹⁷. Matter of fact, he couldn’t remember for sure that they used to sweat at all. And now, as he rubbed his forehead and smallish red nose, they barely felt like his own. They felt naked, and nervous, and like somebody else’s hands. No calluses was how come. Funny. You wouldn’t think a man could get so attached to something like calluses, would you? Maybe they’re like cork¹⁹ boots; with corks²⁰ it don’t make no matter how long since you quit wearing ’em because once you been used to going around with ’em, then the ground underfoot is always gonna seem slippery and strange without— though you maybe been wearing oxfords for years and years. Finished with his facial rub, he sat for a moment without moving and let his eyes remain closed. His eyes were tired. And his back was tired. In fact all the hell over he was tired. But it had been worth it. He knew he’d made a good impression on the flunky. And he was pleased by the report; it proved conclusively²¹ that the Stamper mills were in absolute fact, by Jesus, contracted to supply Wakonda Pacific with lumber²². No damn wonder old man Jerome or the rest of the WP bunch hadn’t been sweating the month-long walkout. The boys could strike till hell froze shut and it wouldn’t be hurting profits. Not as long as Stamper and his scabby kind were cutting for them! It was even worse than he’d figured. He’d figured Jerome had contacted Stamper and maybe made a deal to buy some logs later on to make up for the setback²³ suffered during the strike. He’d suspicioned this when he saw how hot and heavy the Stampers were hitting it. And it had griped his ass¹ anyhow, them working while the rest of the town laid off. So he’d written Jonathan Draeger, and Draeger had put this union detective to researching the suspicion. And Christ, what that research had turned up: since back as far as August, Stamper’d been contracted to WP, cutting and storing the booms at his place so nobody’d know. So them sonsabitches across the river there were not only working, business as usual while the rest of the town sweated a strike, they’d been doing twice, maybe three goddam times as much business as usual! His eyes opened with a snap. He scooped²⁴ up the untidy bundle of papers and clapped them in a manila folder²⁵. “This oughta do it,” he said, nodding at the thin flunky who had sat across the table from him, drumming his fingers nervously²⁶, all the while Floyd had studied the report. The man seemed reluctant for Floyd to leave. “Ah—you used to go to school with Hank Stamper, I heard,” he said, in a voice too friendly for Floyd’s taste. “You heard wrong,” Floyd replied coldly, refusing to look at the man. He picked up a can of beer in his other hand and took a drink from it. He knew the man had been watching him. He knew his every twitch²⁷ and belch²⁸ were being recorded by this little, thin-shouldered information flunky and would eventually get back to Mr. Draeger himself; this report, different as it was, showed that. It was thorough to a gnat’s eyelash. His report to Draeger would likely be just as thorough. Floyd didn’t like the man’s little bootlicking grin and he ached to bring his fist hammering down on that nervous handful of fingers. He hated it that this sort of man had to be associated with the union at all. And when he’d made an impression on the boys at the top, Floyd promised himself he’d see to getting shut of this sniveling little snake. But if you aim to impress the ones on top, you damn sure have to impress the ones on the bottom. So he kept his face impassive and his spine²⁹ stiff and forced himself to take another sip³⁰ of the flat beer.

1 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

4 knuckled   

v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的过去式和过去分词 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He knuckled me in the chest. 他用指关节敲击我的胸部。 来自辞典例句
• Mr. Cruncher knuckled his forehead, as Sydney Carton and the spy returned from the dark room. 克朗彻先生用指关节敲敲自己的前额，这时西德尼 - 卡尔顿和密探从黑屋出来了。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

6 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

7 monolithic   

adj.似独块巨石的；整体的

参考例句：

• Don't think this gang is monolithic.不要以为这帮人是铁板一块。
• Mathematics is not a single monolithic structure of absolute truth.数学并不是绝对真理的单一整体结构。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

10 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。

11 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

12 scrawl   

vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写

参考例句：

• His signature was an illegible scrawl.他的签名潦草难以辨认。
• Your beautiful handwriting puts my untidy scrawl to shame.你漂亮的字体把我的潦草字迹比得见不得人。

13 hunches   

预感，直觉( hunch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle. 一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。
• We often test our hunches on each other. 我们经常互相检验我们的第六感觉。

14 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

15 constricting   

压缩，压紧，使收缩( constrict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment of congenital constricting band syndrome(CCBS) and amputations. 目的探讨先天性束带症与先天性截肢的临床特点及治疗方法。

16 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

17 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

18 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

19 cork   

n.软木，软木塞

参考例句：

• We heard the pop of a cork.我们听见瓶塞砰的一声打开。
• Cork is a very buoyant material.软木是极易浮起的材料。

20 corks   

n.脐梅衣；软木( cork的名词复数 )；软木塞

参考例句：

• Champagne corks were popping throughout the celebrations. 庆祝会上开香槟酒瓶塞的砰砰声不绝於耳。 来自辞典例句
• Champagne corks popped, and on lace tablecloths seven-course dinners were laid. 桌上铺着带装饰图案的网织的桌布，上面是七道菜的晚餐。 来自飘（部分）

21 conclusively   

adv.令人信服地，确凿地

参考例句：

• All this proves conclusively that she couldn't have known the truth. 这一切无可置疑地证明她不可能知道真相。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• From the facts,he was able to determine conclusively that the death was not a suicide. 根据这些事实他断定这起死亡事件并非自杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

23 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

24 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

26 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

27 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

28 belch   

v.打嗝，喷出

参考例句：

• Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。
• Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工厂的烟囱冒出滚滚浓烟。

29 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。

30 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。