John had been many a time to the house of Deacon Mayhew, and never with any hesitation1, even if he knew that both the deacon's daughters—Melinda and Sophronia—were at home. The only fear he had felt was of the deacon's big dog, who always surlily watched him as he came up the tanbark walk, and made a rush at him if he showed the least sign of wavering. But upon the night of the party his courage [Pg 102] vanished, and he thought he would rather face all the dogs in town than knock at the front door.
The parlor2 was lighted up, and as John stood on the broad flagging before the front door, by the lilac-bush, he could hear the sound of voices—girls' voices—which set his heart in a flutter. He could face the whole district school of girls without flinching,—he didn't mind 'em in the meeting-house in their Sunday best; but he began to be conscious that now he was passing to a new sphere, where the girls are supreme3 and superior, and he began to feel for the first time that he was an awkward boy. The girl takes to society as naturally as a duckling does to the placid4 pond, but with a semblance5 of sly timidity; the boy plunges6 in with a great splash, and hides his shy awkwardness in noise and commotion7.
When John entered, the company had nearly all come. He knew them every one, and yet there was something about them strange and unfamiliar8. They were all a little afraid of each other, as people are apt [Pg 103] to be when they are well dressed and met together for social purposes in the country. To be at a real party was a novel thing for most of them, and put a constraint9 upon them which they could not at once overcome. Perhaps it was because they were in the awful parlor, that carpeted room of haircloth furniture, which was so seldom opened. Upon the wall hung two certificates framed in black,—one certifying10 that, by the payment of fifty dollars, Deacon Mayhew was a life member of the American Tract11 Society; and the other that, by a like outlay12 of bread cast upon the waters, his wife was a life member of the A. B. C. F. M., a portion of the alphabet which has an awful significance to all New England childhood. These certificates are a sort of receipt in full for charity, and are a constant and consoling reminder13 to the farmer that he has discharged his religious duties.
There was a fire on the broad hearth14, and that, with the tallow candles on the mantelpiece, made quite an illumination in the room, and enabled the boys, who were [Pg 104] mostly on one side of the room, to see the girls, who were on the other, quite plainly. How sweet and demure15 the girls looked, to be sure! Every boy was thinking if his hair was slick, and feeling the full embarrassment16 of his entrance into fashionable life. It was queer that these children, who were so free everywhere else, should be so constrained17 now, and not know what to do with themselves. The shooting of a spark out upon the carpet was a great relief, and was accompanied by a deal of scrambling18 to throw it back into the fire, and caused much giggling19. It was only gradually that the formality was at all broken, and the young people got together and found their tongues.
John at length found himself with Cynthia Rudd, to his great delight and considerable embarrassment, for Cynthia, who was older than John, never looked so pretty. To his surprise he had nothing to say to her. They had always found plenty to talk about before, but now nothing that he could think of seemed worth saying at a party.
[Pg 105]
"It is a pleasant evening," said John.
"It is quite so," replied Cynthia.
"Did you come in a cutter?" asked John, anxiously.
"No; I walked on the crust, and it was perfectly20 lovely walking," said Cynthia, in a burst of confidence.
"Was it slippery?" continued John.
"Not very."
John hoped it would be slippery—very—when he walked home with Cynthia, as he determined21 to do, but he did not dare to say so, and the conversation ran aground again. John thought about his dog and his sled and his yoke22 of steers23, but he didn't see any way to bring them into conversation. Had she read the "Swiss Family Robinson"? Only a little ways. John said it was splendid, and he would lend it to her, for which she thanked him, and said, with such a sweet expression, she should be so glad to have it from him. That was encouraging.
And then John asked Cynthia if she had seen Sally Hawkes since the husking at their house, when Sally found so many red [Pg 106] ears; and didn't she think she was a real pretty girl?
"Yes, she was right pretty;" and Cynthia guessed that Sally knew it pretty well. But did John like the color of her eyes?
No; John didn't like the color of her eyes exactly.
"Her mouth would be well enough if she didn't laugh so much and show her teeth."
John said her mouth was her worst feature.
"Oh no," said Cynthia, warmly; "her mouth is better than her nose."
John didn't know but it was better than her nose, and he should like her looks better if her hair wasn't so dreadful black.
But Cynthia, who could afford to be generous now, said she liked black hair, and she wished hers was dark. Whereupon John protested that he liked light hair—auburn hair—of all things.
And Cynthia said that Sally was a dear, good girl, and she didn't believe one word of the story that she only really found one red ear at the husking that night, and hid [Pg 107] that and kept pulling it out as if it were a new one.
And so the conversation, once started, went on as briskly as possible about the paring-bee and the spelling-school, and the new singing-master who was coming, and how Jack24 Thompson had gone to Northampton to be a clerk in a store, and how Elvira Reddington, in the geography class at school, was asked what was the capital of Massachusetts, and had answered "Northampton," and all the school laughed. John enjoyed the conversation amazingly, and he half wished that he and Cynthia were the whole of the party.
But the party had meantime got into operation, and the formality was broken up when the boys and girls had ventured out of the parlor into the more comfortable living-room, with its easy-chairs and everyday things, and even gone so far as to penetrate25 the kitchen in their frolic. As soon as they forgot they were a party, they began to enjoy themselves.
But the real pleasure only began with the games. The party was nothing without [Pg 108] the games, and indeed it was made for the games. Very likely it was one of the timid girls who proposed to play something, and when the ice was once broken, the whole company went into the business enthusiastically. There was no dancing. We should hope not. Not in the deacon's house; not with the deacon's daughters, nor anywhere in this good Puritanic society. Dancing was a sin in itself, and no one could tell what it would lead to. But there was no reason why the boys and girls shouldn't come together and kiss each other during a whole evening occasionally. Kissing was a sign of peace, and was not at all like taking hold of hands and skipping about to the scraping of a wicked fiddle26.
In the games there was a great deal of clasping hands, of going round in a circle, of passing under each other's elevated arms, of singing about my true love, and the end was kisses distributed with more or less partiality according to the rules of the play; but, thank Heaven, there was no fiddler. John liked it all, and was quite brave about paying all the forfeits27 imposed [Pg 109] on him, even to the kissing all the girls in the room; but he thought he could have amended28 that by kissing a few of them a good many times instead of kissing them all once.
But John was destined29 to have a damper put upon his enjoyment30. They were playing a most fascinating game, in which they all stand in a circle and sing a philandering31 song, except one who is in the centre of the ring and holds a cushion. At a certain word in the song, the one in the centre throws the cushion at the feet of some one in the ring, indicating thereby32 the choice of a mate, and then the two sweetly kneel upon the cushion, like two meek33 angels, and—and so forth34. Then the chosen one takes the cushion and the delightful35 play goes on. It is very easy, as it will be seen, to learn how to play it. Cynthia was holding the cushion, and at the fatal word she threw it down,—not before John, but in front of Ephraim Leggett. And they two kneeled, and so forth. John was astounded36. He had never conceived of such perfidy37 in the female heart. He felt like wiping [Pg 110] Ephraim off the face of the earth, only Ephraim was older and bigger than he. When it came his turn at length—thanks to a plain little girl for whose admiration38 he didn't care a straw—he threw the cushion down before Melinda Mayhew with all the devotion he could muster39, and a dagger40 look at Cynthia. And Cynthia's perfidious41 smile only enraged42 him the more. John felt wronged, and worked himself up to pass a wretched evening.
When supper came he never went near Cynthia, and busied himself in carrying different kinds of pie and cake, and red apples and cider, to the girls he liked the least. He shunned43 Cynthia, and when he was accidentally near her, and she asked him if he would get her a glass of cider, he rudely told her—like a goose as he was—that she had better ask Ephraim. That seemed to him very smart; but he got more and more miserable44, and began to feel that he was making himself ridiculous.
[Pg 111]
Girls have a great deal more good sense in such matters than boys. Cynthia went to John, at length, and asked him simply what the matter was. John blushed, and said that nothing was the matter. Cynthia said that it wouldn't do for two people always to be together at a party; and so they made up, and John obtained permission to "see" Cynthia home.
GOING HOME WITH CYNTHIA
It was after half past nine when the great festivities at the Deacon's broke up, and John walked home with Cynthia over the shining crust and under the stars. It was mostly a silent walk, for this was also an occasion when it is difficult to find anything fit to say. And John was thinking all the way how he should bid Cynthia goodnight; whether it would do and whether it wouldn't do, this not being a game, and no forfeits attaching to it. When they reached the gate there was an awkward little pause. John said the stars were uncommonly45 bright. Cynthia did not deny it, but waited a minute and then turned abruptly46 away, with "Good-night, John!"
"Good-night, Cynthia!"
And the party was over, and Cynthia was gone, and John went home in a kind of dissatisfaction with himself.
[Pg 112]
It was long before he could go to sleep for thinking of the new world opened to him, and imagining how he would act under a hundred different circumstances, and what he would say, and what Cynthia would say; but a dream at length came, and led him away to a great city and a brilliant house; and while he was there he heard a loud rapping on the under floor, and saw that it was daylight.
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1
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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2
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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3
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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4
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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5
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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6
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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7
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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8
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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9
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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10
certifying
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| （尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书 | |
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11
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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12
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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13
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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14
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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15
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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16
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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17
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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18
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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19
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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20
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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21
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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22
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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23
steers
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| n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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24
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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25
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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26
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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27
forfeits
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| 罚物游戏 | |
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28
Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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29
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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30
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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31
philandering
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| v.调戏，玩弄女性( philander的现在分词 ) | |
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32
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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33
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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34
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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35
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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36
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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37
perfidy
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| n.背信弃义，不忠贞 | |
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38
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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39
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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40
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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41
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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42
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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43
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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45
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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46
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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