PART VI: BABY Chapter 1

TOM did not come home till March, and the baby had been christened before he arrived, Thyrza having proved too soft to resist ecclesiastical pressure. But her husband was not so disappointed as she had feared. Indeed, Tom’s whole attitude towards the miracle she had wrought¹ in his absence puzzled her a little.

She had met him at the cottage door with the baby in her arms, and after their first greeting he had said:

“Put the baby down, Thyrza. I can’t kiss you praaperly.” Then, with his face hidden in her neck, had murmured: “It’s my wife I want.”

“But aun’t you justabout pleased wud your boy, dear?” she asked him later, when they were having tea and eggs in a cosy² blur³ of firelight and sunshine.

“Reckon I am. But babies are unaccountable ugly; and as fur hoalding him, I’d sooner nuss a dud shell.”

“He aun’t ugly, Tom; everyone says he’s a justabout lovely child—and weighs near fourteen pounds, which is valiant⁴ fur a boy of his months.”

“Maybe—I know naun of babies. But you, Thyrza ... reckon you’re justabout the waonder of the world to me.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she felt his hand groping for hers on her knees under the table.

“Reckon you’re just another baby,” she said tenderly. [242] “And I’m the mother of you both.”

1 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

2 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

3 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

4 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。