Chapter 6

　　The Unexpected Arrival Home of our Son, Willie Lupin Pooter.

　　August 4. -The first post brought a nice letter from our dear sonWillie, acknowledging a trifling¹ present which Carrie sent him, the daybefore yesterday being his twentieth birthday. To our utter amazement² heturned up himself in the afternoon, having journeyed all the way fromOldham. He said he had got leave from the bank, and as Monday was aholiday he thought he would give us a little surprise.

　　August 5, Sunday. - We have not seen Willie since last Christmas, andare pleased to notice what a fine young man he has grown. One wouldscarcely believe he was Carrie's son. He looks more like a youngerbrother. I rather disapprove³ of his wearing a check suit on a Sunday, andI think he ought to have gone to church this morning; but he said he wastired after yesterday's journey, so I refrained from any remark on thesubject. We had a bottle of port for dinner, and drank dear Willie'shealth.

　　He said: "Oh, by-the-by, did I tell you I've cut my first name,'William,' and taken the second name 'Lupin'? In fact, I'm only known atOldham as 'Lupin Pooter.' If you were to 'Willie' me there, they wouldn'tknow what you meant."Of course, Lupin being a purely⁴ family name, Carrie was delighted,and began by giving a long history of the Lupins. I ventured to say that Ithought William a nice simple name, and reminded him he was christenedafter his Uncle William, who was much respected in the City. Willie, in amanner which I did not much care for, said sneeringly⁵: "Oh, I know allabout that - Good old Bill!" and helped himself to a third glass of port.

　　Carrie objected strongly to my saying "Good old," but she made noremark when Willie used the double adjective. I said nothing, but lookedat her, which meant more. I said: "My dear Willie, I hope you arehappy with your colleagues at the Bank." He replied: "Lupin, if youplease; and with respect to the Bank, there's not a clerk who is a gentleman, and the 'boss' is a cad." I felt so shocked, I could say nothing, and myinstinct told me there was something wrong.

　　August 6, Bank Holiday. - As there was no sign of Lupin moving atnine o'clock, I knocked at his door, and said we usually breakfasted athalf-past eight, and asked how long would he be? Lupin replied that hehad had a lively time of it, first with the train shaking the house all night,and then with the sun streaming in through the window in his eyes, andgiving him a cracking headache. Carrie came up and asked if he wouldlike some breakfast sent up, and he said he could do with a cup of tea, anddidn't want anything to eat.

　　Lupin not having come down, I went up again at half-past one, andsaid we dined at two; he said he "would be there." He never came downtill a quarter to three. I said: "We have not seen much of you, and youwill have to return by the 5.30 train; therefore you will have to leave in anhour, unless you go by the midnight mail." He said: "Look here, Guv'nor,it's no use beating about the bush. I've tendered my resignation at theBank."For a moment I could not speak. When my speech came again, I said:

　　"How dare you, sir? How dare you take such a serious step withoutconsulting me? Don't answer me, sir! - you will sit down immediately,and write a note at my dictation, withdrawing your resignation and amplyapologising for your thoughtlessness."Imagine my dismay when he replied with a loud guffaw⁶: "It's no use.

　　If you want the good old truth, I've got the chuck!"August 7. - Mr. Perkupp has given me leave to postpone⁷ my holiday aweek, as we could not get the room. This will give us an opportunity oftrying to find an appointment for Willie before we go. The ambition ofmy life would be to get him into Mr. Perkupp's firm.

　　August 11. - Although it is a serious matter having our boy Lupin onour hands, still it is satisfactory to know he was asked to resign from theBank simply because "he took no interest in his work, and always arrivedan hour (sometimes two hours) late." We can all start off on Monday toBroadstairs with a light heart. This will take my mind off the worry of thelast few days, which have been wasted over a useless correspondence with the manager of the Bank at Oldham.

　　August 13. - Hurrah⁸! at Broadstairs. Very nice apartments near thestation. On the cliffs they would have been double the price. Thelandlady had a nice five o'clock dinner and tea ready, which we all enjoyed,though Lupin seemed fastidious because there happened to be a fly in thebutter. It was very wet in the evening, for which I was thankful, as it wasa good excuse for going to bed early. Lupin said he would sit up and reada bit.

　　August 14. - I was a little annoyed to find Lupin, instead of readinglast night, had gone to a common sort of entertainment, given at theAssembly Rooms. I expressed my opinion that such performances wereunworthy of respectable patronage⁹; but he replied: "Oh, it was only 'forone night only.' I had a fit of the blues¹⁰ come on, and thought I would goto see Polly Presswell, England's Particular Spark." I told him I wasproud to say I had never heard of her. Carrie said: "Do let the boyalone. He's quite old enough to take care of himself, and won't forgethe's a gentleman. Remember, you were young once yourself." Rainedall day hard, but Lupin would go out.

　　August 15. - Cleared up a bit, so we all took the train to Margate, andthe first person we met on the jetty was Gowing. I said: "Hulloh! Ithought you had gone to Barmouth with your Birmingham friends?" Hesaid: "Yes, but young Peter Lawrence was so ill, they postponed¹¹ theirvisit, so I came down here. You know the Cummings' are here too?"Carrie said: "Oh, that will be delightful¹²! We must have some eveningstogether and have games."I introduced Lupin, saying: "You will be pleased to find we have ourdear boy at home!" Gowing said: "How's that? You don't mean to sayhe's left the Bank?"I changed the subject quickly, and thereby¹³ avoided any of thoseawkward questions which Gowing always has a knack¹⁴ of asking.

　　August 16. - Lupin positively¹⁵ refused to walk down the Parade withme because I was wearing my new straw helmet with my frock-coat. Idon't know what the boy is coming to.

　　August 17. - Lupin not falling in with our views, Carrie and I went for a sail. It was a relief to be with her alone; for when Lupin irritates me,she always sides with him. On our return, he said: "Oh, you've been onthe 'Shilling Emetic,' have you? You'll come to six-pennorth on the'Liver Jerker' next." I presume he meant a tricycle, but I affected¹⁶ not tounderstand him.

　　August 18. - Gowing and Cummings walked over to arrange anevening at Margate. It being wet, Gowing asked Cummings toaccompany him to the hotel and have a game of billiards¹⁷, knowing I neverplay, and in fact disapprove of the game. Cummings said he must hastenback to Margate; whereupon Lupin, to my horror, said: "I'll give you agame, Gowing - a hundred up. A walk round I the cloth will give me anappetite for dinner." I said: "Perhaps Mister Gowing does not care toplay with boys." Gowing surprised me by saying: "Oh yes, I do, if theyplay well," and they walked off together.

　　August 19, Sunday. - I was about to read Lupin a sermon on smoking(which he indulges in violently) and billiards, but he put on his hat andwalked out. Carrie then read ME a long sermon on the palpableinadvisability of treating Lupin as if he were a mere¹⁸ child. I felt she wassomewhat right, so in the evening I offered him a cigar. He seemedpleased, but, after a few whiffs, said: "This is a good old tup'ny - try one ofmine," and he handed me a cigar as long as it was strong, which is sayinga good deal.

　　August 20. - I am glad our last day at the seaside was fine, thoughclouded overhead. We went over to Cummings' (at Margate) in theevening, and as it was cold, we stayed in and played games; Gowing, asusual, overstepping the mark. He suggested we should play "Cutlets," agame we never heard of. He sat on a chair, and asked Carrie to sit on hislap, an invitation which dear Carrie rightly declined.

　　After some species of wrangling¹⁹, I sat on Gowing's knees and Carriesat on the edge of mine. Lupin sat on the edge of Carrie's lap, thenCummings on Lupin's, and Mrs. Cummings on her husband's. We lookedvery ridiculous, and laughed a good deal.

　　Gowing then said: "Are you a believer in the Great Mogul?" Wehad to answer all together: "Yes - oh, yes!" (three times). Gowing said:

　　 "So am I," and suddenly got up. The result of this stupid joke was thatwe all fell on the ground, and poor Carrie banged her head against thecorner of the fender. Mrs. Cummings put some vinegar on; but throughthis we missed the last train, and had to drive back to Broadstairs, whichcost me seven-and-sixpence.

1 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

2 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

3 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

4 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

5 sneeringly   

嘲笑地，轻蔑地

参考例句：

• Guan and Zhang had nothing more to say, But they walked away sneeringly. 关羽、张飞无话，冷笑着走了。

6 guffaw   

n.哄笑；突然的大笑

参考例句：

• All the boys burst out into a guffaw at the joke.听到这个笑话，男孩子们发出一阵哄笑。
• As they guffawed loudly,the ticket collector arrived.他们正哈哈大笑的时候，检票员到了。

7 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

8 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。

9 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。

10 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

11 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

12 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

13 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

14 knack   

n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法

参考例句：

• He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
• Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难，但有窍门。

15 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

17 billiards   

n.台球

参考例句：

• John used to divert himself with billiards.约翰过去总打台球自娱。
• Billiards isn't popular in here.这里不流行台球。

18 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

19 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句