Chapter 8

　　Daisy Mutlar sole topic of conversation. Lupin's new berth¹.

　　Fireworks at the Cummings'. The "Holloway Comedians²." Sarahquarrels with the charwoman. Lupin's uncalled-for interference. Amintroduced to Daisy Mutlar. We decide to give a party in her honour.

　　November 5, Sunday. - Carrie and I troubled about that mere³ boyLupin getting engaged to be married without consulting us or anything.

　　After dinner he told us all about it. He said the lady's name was DaisyMutlar, and she was the nicest, prettiest, and most accomplished⁴ girl heever met. He loved her the moment he saw her, and if he had to waitfifty years he would wait, and he knew she would wait for him.

　　Lupin further said, with much warmth, that the world was a differentworld to him now, - it was a world worth living in. He lived with anobject now, and that was to make Daisy Mutlar - Daisy Pooter, and hewould guarantee she would not disgrace the family of the Pooters. Carriehere burst out crying, and threw her arms round his neck, and in doing so,upset the glass of port he held in his hand all over his new light trousers.

　　I said I had no doubt we should like Miss Mutlar when we saw her, butCarrie said she loved her already. I thought this rather premature⁵, butheld my tongue. Daisy Mutlar was the sole topic of conversation for theremainder of the day. I asked Lupin who her people were, and he replied:

　　"Oh, you know Mutlar, Williams and Watts⁶." I did not know, butrefrained from asking any further questions at present, for fear of irritatingLupin.

　　November 6. - Lupin went with me to the office, and had a longconversation with Mr. Perkupp, our principal, the result of which was thathe accepted a clerkship in the firm of Job Cleanands and Co., Stock andShare Brokers⁷. Lupin told me, privately⁸, it was an advertising⁹ firm, andhe did not think much of it. I replied: "Beggars should not be choosers;"and I will do Lupin the justice to say, he looked rather ashamed of himself.

　　In the evening we went round to the Cummings', to have a few fireworks. It began to rain, and I thought it rather dull. One of mysquibs would not go off, and Gowing said: "Hit it on your boot, boy; itwill go off then." I gave it a few knocks on the end of my boot, and itwent off with one loud explosion, and burnt my fingers rather badly.

　　gave the rest of the squibs to the little Cummings' boy to let off.

　　Another unfortunate thing happened, which brought a heap of abuseon my head. Cummings fastened a large wheel set-piece on a stake in theground by way of a grand finale. He made a great fuss about it; said itcost seven shillings. There was a little difficulty in getting it alight. Atlast it went off; but after a couple of slow revolutions it stopped. I hadmy stick with me, so I gave it a tap to send it round, and, unfortunately, itfell off the stake on to the grass. Anybody would have thought I had setthe house on fire from the way in which they stormed at me. I will neverjoin in any more firework parties. It is a ridiculous waste of time andmoney.

　　November 7. - Lupin asked Carrie to call on Mrs. Mutlar, but Carriesaid she thought Mrs. Mutlar ought to call on her first. I agreed withCarrie, and this led to an argument. However, the matter was settled byCarrie saying she could not find any visiting cards, and we must get somemore printed, and when they were finished would be quite time enough todiscuss the etiquette¹⁰ of calling.

　　November 8. - I ordered some of our cards at Black's, the stationers.

　　I ordered twenty-five of each, which will last us for a good long time. Inthe evening, Lupin brought in Harry¹¹ Mutlar, Miss Mutlar's brother. Hewas rather a gawky youth, and Lupin said he was the most popular andbest amateur in the club, referring to the "Holloway Comedians." Lupinwhispered to us that if we could only "draw out" Harry a bit, he wouldmake us roar with laughter.

　　At supper, young Mutlar did several amusing things. He took up aknife, and with the flat part of it played a tune¹² on his cheek in a wonderfulmanner. He also gave an imitation of an old man with no teeth, smokinga big cigar. The way he kept dropping the cigar sent Carrie into fits.

　　In the course of conversation, Daisy's name cropped up, and youngMutlar said he would bring his sister round to us one evening - his parents being rather old-fashioned, and not going out much. Carrie said wewould get up a little special party. As young Mutlar showed noinclination to go, and it was approaching eleven o'clock, as a hint Ireminded Lupin that he had to be up early to-morrow. Instead of taking thehint, Mutlar began a series of comic imitations. He went on for an hourwithout cessation. Poor Carrie could scarcely keep her eyes open. Atlast she made an excuse, and said "Good-night."Mutlar then left, and I heard him and Lupin whispering in the hallsomething about the "Holloway Comedians," and to my disgust, althoughit was past midnight, Lupin put on his hat and coat, and went out with hisnew companion.

　　November 9. - My endeavours to discover who tore the sheets out ofmy diary still fruitless. Lupin has Daisy Mutlar on the brain, so we seelittle of him, except that he invariably turns up at meal times. Cummingsdropped in.

　　November 10. - Lupin seems to like his new berth - that's a comfort.

　　Daisy Mutlar the sole topic of conversation during tea. Carrie almost asfull of it as Lupin. Lupin informs me, to my disgust, that he has beenpersuaded to take part in the forthcoming performance of the "HollowayComedians." He says he is to play Bob Britches in the farce¹³, GONE TOMY UNCLE'S; Frank Mutlar is going to play old Musty. I told Lupinpretty plainly I was not in the least degree interested in the matter, andtotally disapproved¹⁴ of amateur theatricals¹⁵. Gowing came in the evening.

　　November 11. - Returned home to find the house in a most disgracefuluproar, Carrie, who appeared very frightened, was standing¹⁶ outside herbedroom, while Sarah was excited and crying. Mrs. Birrell (thecharwoman), who had evidently been drinking, was shouting at the top ofher voice that she was "no thief, that she was a respectable woman, whohad to work hard for her living, and she would smack¹⁷ anyone's face whoput lies into her mouth." Lupin, whose back was towards me, did nothear me come in. He was standing between the two women, and, I regretto say, in his endeavour to act as peacemaker, he made use of rather stronglanguage in the presence of his mother; and I was just in time to hear himsay: "And all this fuss about the loss of a few pages from a rotten diary that wouldn't fetch three-halfpence a pound!" I said, quietly: "Pardon me,Lupin, that is a matter of opinion; and as I am master of this house,perhaps you will allow me to take the reins¹⁸."I ascertained¹⁹ that the cause of the row was, that Sarah had accused Mrs.

　　Birrell of tearing the pages out of my diary to wrap up some kitchen fatand leavings which she had taken out of the house last week. Mrs.

　　Birrell had slapped Sarah's face, and said she had taken nothing out of theplace, as there was "never no leavings to take." I ordered Sarah back toher work, and requested Mrs. Birrell to go home. When I entered theparlour Lupin was kicking his legs in the air, and roaring with laughter.

　　November 12, Sunday. - Coming home from church Carrie and I metLupin, Daisy Mutlar, and her brother. Daisy was introduced to us, andwe walked home together, Carrie walking on with Miss Mutlar. We askedthem in for a few minutes, and I had a good look at my future daughter-inlaw. My heart quite sank. She is a big young woman, and I shouldthink at least eight years older than Lupin. I did not even think her good-looking. Carrie asked her if she could come in on Wednesday next withher brother to meet a few friends. She replied that she would only be toopleased.

　　November 13. - Carrie sent out invitations to Gowing, the Cummings,to Mr. and Mrs. James (of Sutton), and Mr. Stillbrook. I wrote a note toMr. Franching, of Peckham. Carrie said we may as well make it a niceaffair, and why not ask our principal, Mr. Perkupp? I said I feared wewere not quite grand enough for him. Carrie said there was "no offencein asking him." I said: "Certainly not," and I wrote him a letter.

　　Carrie confessed she was a little disappointed with Daisy Mutlar'sappearance, but thought she seemed a nice girl.

　　November 14. - Everybody so far has accepted for our quite grandlittle party for to-morrow. Mr. Perkupp, in a nice letter which I shallkeep, wrote that he was dining in Kensington, but if he could get away, hewould come up to Holloway for an hour. Carrie was busy all day,making little cakes and open jam puffs²⁰ and jellies. She said she felt quitenervous about her responsibilities to- morrow evening. We decided²¹ tohave some light things on the table, such as sandwiches, cold chicken and ham, and some sweets, and on the sideboard a nice piece of cold beef anda Paysandu tongue - for the more hungry ones to peg²² into if they liked.

　　Gowing called to know if he was to put on "swallow-tails" to- morrow.

　　Carrie said he had better dress, especially as Mr. Franching was coming,and there was a possibility of Mr. Perkupp also putting in an appearance.

　　Gowing said: "Oh, I only wanted to know, for I have not worn mydress-coat for some time, and I must send it to have the creases²³ pressedout."After Gowing left, Lupin came in, and in his anxiety to please DaisyMutlar, carped at and criticised the arrangements, and, in fact, disapprovedof everything, including our having asked our old friend Cummings, who,he said, would look in evening-dress like a green-grocer engaged to wait,and who must not be surprised if Daisy took him for one.

　　I fairly lost my temper, and said: "Lupin, allow me to tell you MissDaisy Mutlar is not the Queen of England. I gave you credit for morewisdom than to allow yourself to be inveigled²⁴ into an engagement with awoman considerably²⁵ older than yourself. I advise you to think of earningyour living before entangling²⁶ yourself with a wife whom you will have tosupport, and, in all probability, her brother also, who appeared to benothing but a loafer."Instead of receiving this advice in a sensible manner, Lupin jumped upand said: "If you insult the lady I am engaged to, you insult me. I willleave the house and never darken your doors again."He went out of the house, slamming the hall-door. But it was allright. He came back to supper, and we played Bezique till nearly twelveo'clock.

1 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

2 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

6 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

7 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

8 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

13 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

14 disapproved   

v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 theatricals   

n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的

参考例句：

• His success in amateur theatricals led him on to think he could tread the boards for a living. 他业余演戏很成功，他因此觉得自己可以以演戏为生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm to be in the Thanksgiving theatricals. 我要参加感恩节的演出。 来自辞典例句

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

18 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

19 ascertained   

v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The previously unidentified objects have now been definitely ascertained as being satellites. 原来所说的不明飞行物现在已证实是卫星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I ascertained that she was dead. 我断定她已经死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

21 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

22 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

23 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

24 inveigled   

v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He inveigled them into buying a new car. 他诱惑他们买了一辆新汽车。 来自辞典例句
• The salesman inveigled the girl into buying the ring. 店员（以甜言）诱使女孩买下戒指。 来自辞典例句

25 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。

26 entangling   

v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We increasingly want an end to entangling alliances. 我们越来越想终止那些纠缠不清的盟约。 来自辞典例句
• What a thing it was to have her love him, even if it be entangling! 得到她的爱是件多么美妙的事，即使为此陷入纠葛中去也值得！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹