Then we ourselves occupied the two next floors. It was a strange little house; two rooms, back and front, piled on the top of each other four stories high; the top-story rooms were attics12; and there was actually a lodger1 in each of those attics! Where Mrs. Goldsworthy and her daughter slept themselves was more than either Lizzie or I could make out. One of the attic11 lodgers was a thin, wistful man, whom I could not help looking at. He worked at something in his own room, and used to go out to dine. He was always very neat and clean; but very threadbare, and with a hungry look that went to one’s heart. Perhaps it was not want; maybe he was hungry for something else than mere13 money or nourishment14; but sometimes I am sure I should not have been surprised to hear that he was starving too. Sometimes he looked at me or at baby in his wistful way, just as he vanished past us. I can’t say he ever smiled, even at little Harry; but still we drew his eyes when he chanced to meet us going out or in. I felt a great compassion15 for this poor solitary16 man. He was a man that might have been found starved, but never would have asked any charity; at least so I thought of him. I used to fancy him sitting in his solitary room upstairs by the window, and not by the fire,—for we never heard him poking17 any fire, and often saw him at the window,—and wondered how people could get so isolated18, and chilled, and solitary; how they lived at all when they came to that condition—benumbed of all comfort, and still not frozen to death. How strange to think of keeping on living, years and years after one’s heart is dead! Harry said I was fanciful and continually made stories about people; but I did not tell Harry one half of my fancies; I don’t know what he would have done to me if I had; but I did so wish I{172} could have some chance of doing something to please that old man.
One day Harry came downstairs with a smile on his face. “There is the most ludicrous scene going on below; come and look, Milly,” he said, drawing me to the stairs. I peeped down, and there, to be sure, I saw a reason for the sound of talking I had heard for a few minutes past. Lizzie was sitting on the stair, pondering deeply, with a perplexed19 face, over a large book spread out on the step above her. She was holding baby fast in one arm, and staving off his attempts to snatch at the leaves of the book. Leaning on the bannisters regarding her, and holding forth20 most volubly in an unknown tongue, was our fat friend; and between every two or three words he pointed21 to the book, making a sort of appeal to it. The contrast between the two—she silent and bewildered, confused by her efforts to restrain baby and comprehend the book—he, the vast full figure of him, so voluble, so good-humoured, so complacent22, talking with his fat arms and fingers, his gestures, and every movement he made—talking with such confidence that language which nobody understood—was almost as irresistible23 to me as to Harry. We stood looking down at them, extremely amused and wondering. Then Lizzie, failing to comprehend the book, and hearing herself addressed so energetically, raised her round eyes, round with amazement24, to the speaker’s face. The unknown tongue awed25 Lizzie; she contemplated26 him with speechless wonder and dismay; until at last, when the speaker made an evident close appeal to her, with a natural oratory27 which she could not mistake, unintelligible28 as was its meaning, her amazement burst forth in words. “Eh, man, what div ye mean?” cried Lizzie, in the extremity29 of her puzzled wonder. It was the climax30 of the scene. Though I thrust Harry back into the room instantly, that his laughter might not be heard, and smothered31 my own as best I could, the sound caught Lizzie’s watchful32 ears. In another moment she had reached the top of the stairs, breathless, with her charge in her arms. The puzzled look had not left Lizzie’s eyes, but she was deeply abashed33 and ashamed of herself. Harry’s laughter did not mend the matter, of course. She dropped baby in my arms, and twisted herself into all her old awkward contortions34. I had to send her away and dismiss Harry into the other room. Poor Lizzie had never possessed35 sufficient courage to permit herself to be accosted36 by the dreadful foreigner before.
However, we were not less amused when we heard what Mrs. Goldsworthy would have called “the rights of it.” Lizzie,{173} with great resolution, determined37 to have herself exculpated38, came to me with her statement as soon as she was quite assured that “the Captain” was out of the way.
“Eh! I came to think at last he was, maybe, a Hielander,” said Lizzie, “though they’re seldom that fat. And he laid down the book straight before in the stair. I kent what kind of book it was. It was the book wi’ a’ kind o’ words, and the meanings. But the meanings just were English, and the words were some other language. And I kind of guessed what he wanted, too. He wanted me to look in the book for the words he said, to tell me what he meant; but eh! how was I to ken39 where one word ended and another began? And he just hurried on and on; and the mair I listened, the mair I could not hear a single word, and looking at the book was just nonsense; and Master baby, he would try his hand; and oh, Mem, if you’re angry, I didna mean ony ill, and I’ll never do it again.”
“Nonsense, Lizzie! I am not angry; but couldn’t you get on with the dictionary, and help the poor fellow? Were not you a very good scholar at school?”
“No very,” said Lizzie, hanging her head in agonies of pleased but painful bashfulness, and unconsciously uttering her sentiments in language as puzzling to an English hearer as any uttered by our fat friend downstairs. “No very,” said Lizzie, anxiously truthful40, yet not unwilling41 to do herself due credit;—“no very, but gey.”
Here I fear my laugh rather shocked and affronted42 Lizzie. She stood very upright, and twisted nothing but her fingers. It would have been as impossible to persuade her that there was scarcely a person in Chester, but myself, who could have translated that exquisite43 monosyllable as to convince the foreigner that he was actually and positively44 incomprehensible in spite of the dictionary. But I will not attempt to interpret gey; it is untranslatable, as we are quite content so many French words should be. Even into Harry’s head, which should be capable of better things, I find it quite impossible to convey an idea of the expressiveness45 of this word. Lizzie and I, however, knew no other to put in its place.
“But a gey good scholar might do a great deal for the poor fellow,” said I, when I had got over my laughter; “tell him the English names for things. Try if you can find out his name; but I forgot you were frightened for him, Lizzie.”
“Aye, till I thought he might, maybe, be a Hielander,” said Lizzie. “Though the Hielanders dinna belang to us at{174} hame, they might feel kindly46 in a strange place; and I’ve heard folk speaking Gaelic. But this is no like Gaelic, it’s a’ aws and os; and it’s awfu’ fast, just a rattle47; a’ the words run in to one another. Forbye what harm could he do me? and the book was straight in my way on the stair; and it gangs to my heart to set my foot on a book. Ye might be trampin’ ower a bit o’ the Bible without kennin’; and then he’s very good-natured; and then,” said Lizzie, her eyes suddenly glowing up, “it would be grand to learn a language that nae ither body kens48!”
With the greatest cordiality I applauded this crowning argument, and did all I could to encourage her to persevere49 with the dictionary, and make herself interpreter; for I was not wise enough to think that this new study might possibly be too captivating for Lizzie, and lead her into neglect of her many and pressing duties. I only thought it was the most amusing mode of intercourse50 I ever heard of, and that it would be great fun to watch its progress. Besides, as she said herself, what harm could he do her? Poor Lizzie, who might have been in danger at an elder age in such a comical friendship, was invulnerable to all the dangers of flirtation51 at fourteen.
点击收听单词发音
1 lodger | |
n.寄宿人,房客 | |
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2 lodgers | |
n.房客,租住者( lodger的名词复数 ) | |
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3 coaxed | |
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱 | |
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4 grimaces | |
n.(表蔑视、厌恶等)面部扭曲,鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相,做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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5 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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6 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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7 smelt | |
v.熔解,熔炼;n.银白鱼,胡瓜鱼 | |
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8 imploring | |
恳求的,哀求的 | |
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9 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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10 liking | |
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢 | |
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11 attic | |
n.顶楼,屋顶室 | |
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12 attics | |
n. 阁楼 | |
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13 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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14 nourishment | |
n.食物,营养品;营养情况 | |
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15 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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16 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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17 poking | |
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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18 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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19 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
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20 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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21 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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22 complacent | |
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的 | |
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23 irresistible | |
adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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24 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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25 awed | |
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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27 oratory | |
n.演讲术;词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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28 unintelligible | |
adj.无法了解的,难解的,莫明其妙的 | |
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29 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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30 climax | |
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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31 smothered | |
(使)窒息, (使)透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 ); 覆盖; 忍住; 抑制 | |
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32 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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33 abashed | |
adj.窘迫的,尴尬的v.使羞愧,使局促,使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 contortions | |
n.扭歪,弯曲;扭曲,弄歪,歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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35 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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36 accosted | |
v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 );跟…搭讪;(乞丐等)上前向…乞讨;(妓女等)勾搭 | |
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37 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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38 exculpated | |
v.开脱,使无罪( exculpate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39 ken | |
n.视野,知识领域 | |
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40 truthful | |
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的 | |
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41 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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42 affronted | |
adj.被侮辱的,被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 );相遇 | |
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43 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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44 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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45 expressiveness | |
n.富有表现力 | |
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46 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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47 rattle | |
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓 | |
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48 kens | |
vt.知道(ken的第三人称单数形式) | |
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49 persevere | |
v.坚持,坚忍,不屈不挠 | |
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50 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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51 flirtation | |
n.调情,调戏,挑逗 | |
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