CHAPTER XII. RANDOLPH’S CALL.

Randolph had expressed to his father in the morning an intention of calling upon Gilbert. His motive¹ was not interest in our hero’s welfare, but curiosity to find out how he was situated², as indeed he freely acknowledged.

“I wouldn’t call if I were you, Randolph,” said his mother.

“Why not?” asked her husband.

“Gilbert will move in a different sphere,” said Mrs. Briggs, loftily. “I do not wish my son to form intimacies³ beneath him.”

“I don’t intend to,” said Randolph; “I want to see what sort of a place he is in.”

“He will be likely to presume upon your condescension⁴, and boast of you as one of his friends.”

Mr. Briggs understood Gilbert better.

“No fear of that!” he said. “Gilbert is a boy 116of spirit. He is not one to seek or accept patronage⁵. His pride is quite as great as Randolph’s.”

“What has he to be proud of, I should like to know,” said Mrs. Briggs, with a sneer⁶.

“He is my ward,” said Mr. Briggs, stiffly, “and it is quite proper that my son should pay him some attention.”

“You seem to be infatuated about that boy,” said his wife coldly. “I suppose you will want him invited to Randolph’s birthday party next month.”

“I certainly shall,” said Mr. Briggs.

“This is going rather too far,” said his wife angrily.

“However that may be, he must be invited.”

“I should think I had some voice in that matter, Mr. Briggs.”

“Unless Gilbert Greyson is invited, there shall be no party at all,” said Mr. Briggs, with decision.

Mrs. Briggs felt that the fiat⁷ had gone forth⁸. Her husband generally yielded to her, but sometimes he put his foot down, as the saying is, and was not to be moved. She felt very much annoyed, but Randolph offered her a way of yielding gracefully⁹.

117“Oh, let the beggar come,” he said. “He will be good fun. I want to see how he will behave.”

“Since you wish it, Randolph,” said Mrs. Briggs, addressing herself pointedly¹⁰ to her son, “I will make no further objection. It is your party, and you ought to have your own way. But I shouldn’t think it was necessary for you to call on the boy. He is at some cheap boarding-house, I suppose.”

“Cheap, but perfectly¹¹ respectable,” said Mr. Briggs.

“I want to see what a cheap boarding-house is like,” said Randolph; and his mother said no more.

At eight o’clock the servant brought up to Gilbert’s room a card bearing the name of Randolph Briggs.

“It’s a young gentleman that wants to see you,” she explained.

“I will go down and bring him up,” said Gilbert.

He hurried downstairs, and found Randolph waiting in the parlor¹².

“I am glad to see you, Randolph,” he said cordially; “will you stay here, or come up to my room?”

118“I would like to see your room,” said Randolph.

“It isn’t much to see,” said Gilbert; “but I shall be glad to have you come up.”

“It’s a long way down-town,” said Randolph.

“All the better for me. I am nearer my place of business.”

Gilbert’s room was on the third floor, back. He opened the door and invited Randolph in.

“What a small place!” exclaimed Randolph, looking around him.

“So it is,” said Gilbert; “but I make it do.”

“And the furniture is extremely common,” remarked his visitor, critically.

“That is true also,” said Gilbert, laughing.

“There does not seem to be much of it either; you have but one chair.”

“Take that, if you please, and I will sit on the bed.”

Randolph sat down, but not till he had examined the chair carefully to see if it was clean.

“I don’t see how you can live in such a place,” remarked the young aristocrat¹³.

119“Oh, I easily accommodate myself to it,” said Gilbert; “but I hope soon to make a change for the better.”

“Indeed!”

“Yes; a young man in the house has a large room, which he has agreed to share with me as soon as his present room-mate leaves. That will probably be in a week. Then I can offer you a better reception.”

“What is the young man’s name?”

“Ingalls. I believe he comes from Massachusetts.”

“Is he in business?”

“Yes; he is in a stationery¹⁴ store on William Street. Of course, he is a new acquaintance, but I think we shall get on well together.”

“What sort of boarders have you here?” asked Randolph, curiously¹⁵.

“Rather a miscellaneous class. The gentlemen are chiefly in business. There is one public school-teacher—a lady.”

“Of course, there is nobody that moves in good society?”

“I really don’t know.”

120“How much board do you pay?”

“Six dollars.”

“Six dollars!” repeated Randolph, turning up his nose.

“Some of the boarders pay considerably¹⁶ more, but my room, as you see, is small, and that makes it low for me.”

“What sort of a table have you?”

“Plain, but as good as could be expected. Of course it don’t compare with yours.”

“I should say not.”

“But I find no fault with it. Everything is served neatly¹⁷, and that is what I care most about.”

At this point Mr. Ingalls knocked at the door.

“Excuse me,” he said, when he saw Randolph; “I didn’t know you had company.”

“Come in,” said Gilbert; “or rather, if your room-mate is out, let us adjourn¹⁸ to your room. We shall be more comfortable.”

“Certainly; I shall be glad to have you.”

“Mr. Randolph Briggs, Mr. Ingalls,” said Gilbert, by way of introduction.

121“I am glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Briggs,” said the young man.

Randolph bowed condescendingly.

They went at once to the larger room.

“This is much better,” said Randolph, who seemed surprised to see a sofa.

“Yes, I shall consider myself promoted when I get here.”

“Are you in business, Mr. Briggs?” asked Mr. Ingalls.

“Oh, no, I am preparing for college,” said Randolph; “there is no need of my going into business.”

“I wish I could have gone to college,” said Gilbert, regretfully.

“It takes money to go to college,” said Randolph, complacently¹⁹; “I intend to live in style when I go there.”

“I am afraid, Gilbert,” said young Ingalls, “we must put off going till our wages are raised.”

“I must put it off forever,” said Gilbert.

“I have hopes of getting ready when I am fifty,” 122said the young man; “perhaps Mr. Briggs will be a professor at that time.”

“I wouldn’t teach,” said Randolph, “though it is very respectable to be a professor. I shall be a man of fortune.”

Mr. Ingalls glanced quietly at Gilbert. He was evidently amused by the self-importance of the young aristocrat.

“Do you like your place, Gilbert?” asked Randolph.

“Pretty well.”

“You haven’t got any ice-water here, have you?”

“I will go down and order some.”

While Gilbert was gone, Randolph said, “I am glad Gilbert has got a place, for he is poor and needs it. My father has done a great deal for him; but then he can afford it, for he is a rich man. I have no friends in this neighborhood; but I thought I would come down to see how he was getting along.”

“Gilbert ought to be very grateful,” said Mr. Ingalls, dryly.

123“I think so, too. It is not every poor boy who has a rich man to help him.”

Here Gilbert re-entered with the water, and shortly after Randolph left.

“What do you think of him, Mr. Ingalls?” asked Gilbert.

“He seems to think a good deal of himself,” said the young man. “He referred to you in a very patronizing way.”

Gilbert laughed.

“His mother has spoiled him,” he said; “she is the most disagreeable woman I ever saw. If Randolph had been brought up differently, he might not show so much foolish pride. I like his father best of the three.”

Gilbert little suspected that the man whom he praised had been, thus far in life, his worst enemy.

1 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

2 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

3 intimacies   

亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为

参考例句：

• He is exchanging intimacies with his friends. 他正在和密友们亲切地交谈。
• The stiffness of the meeting soon gave way before their popular manners and more diffused intimacies. 他们的洒脱不羁和亲密气氛的增加很快驱散了会场上的拘谨。

4 condescension   

n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人)

参考例句：

• His politeness smacks of condescension. 他的客气带有屈尊俯就的意味。
• Despite its condescension toward the Bennet family, the letter begins to allay Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy. 尽管这封信对班纳特家的态度很高傲，但它开始消除伊丽莎白对达西的偏见。

5 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

6 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

7 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

10 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

12 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

13 aristocrat   

n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物

参考例句：

• He was the quintessential english aristocrat.他是典型的英国贵族。
• He is an aristocrat to the very marrow of his bones.他是一个道道地地的贵族。

14 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

15 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

16 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

17 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

18 adjourn   

v.（使）休会，（使）休庭

参考例句：

• The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
• I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。

19 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹