Lupin leaves us. We dine at his new apartments, and hear someextraordinary information respecting the wealth of Mr. Murray Posh. MeetMiss Lilian Posh. Am sent for by Mr. Hardfur Huttle. Important.
July 1. - I find, on looking over my diary, nothing of anyconsequence has taken place during the last month. To-day we loseLupin, who has taken furnished apartments at Bayswater, near his friends,Mr. and Mrs. Murray Posh, at two guineas a week. I think this is mostextravagant of him, as it is half his salary. Lupin says one never loses bya good address, and, to use his own expression, Brickfield Terrace is a bit"off." Whether he means it is "far off" I do not know. I have long sincegiven up trying to understand his curious expressions. I said theneighbourhood had always been good enough for his parents. His replywas: "It is no question of being good or bad. There is no money in it,and I am not going to rot away my life in the suburbs."We are sorry to lose him, but perhaps he will get on better by himself,and there may be some truth in his remark that an old and a young horsecan't pull together in the same cart.
Gowing called, and said that the house seemed quite peaceful, and likeold times. He liked Master Lupin very well, but he occasionally sufferedfrom what he could not help - youth.
July 2. - Cummings called, looked very pale, and said he had beenvery ill again, and of course not a single friend had been near him.
Carrie said she had never heard of it, whereupon he threw down a copy ofthe BICYCLE NEWS on the table, with the following paragraph: "Weregret to hear that that favourite old roadster, Mr. Cummings ('Long'
Cummings), has met with what might have been a serious accident in RyeLane. A mischievous1 boy threw a stick between the spokes2 of one of theback wheels, and the machine overturned, bringing our brother tricyclistheavily to the ground. Fortunately he was more frightened than hurt, butwe missed his merry face at the dinner at Chingford, where they turned up in good numbers. 'Long' Cummings' health was proposed by our popularVice, Mr. Westropp, the prince of bicyclists, who in his happiest vein3 saidit was a case of 'CUMMING(s) thro' the RYE, but fortunately there wasmore WHEEL than WOE,' a joke which created roars of laughter."We all said we were very sorry, and pressed Cummings to stay tosupper. Cummings said it was like old times being without Lupin, and hewas much better away.
July 3, Sunday. - In the afternoon, as I was looking out of the parlourwindow, which was open, a grand trap, driven by a lady, with a gentlemanseated by the side of her, stopped at our door. Not wishing to be seen, Iwithdrew my head very quickly, knocking the back of it violently againstthe sharp edge of the window-sash. I was nearly stunned4. There was aloud double-knock at the front door; Carrie rushed out of the parlour,upstairs to her room, and I followed, as Carrie thought it was Mr. Perkupp.
I thought it was Mr. Franching. - I whispered to Sarah over the banisters:
"Show them into the drawing-room." Sarah said, as the shutters5 were notopened, the room would smell musty. There was another loud rat-tat. Iwhispered: "Then show them into the parlour, and say Mr. Pooter will bedown directly." I changed my coat, but could not see to do my hair, asCarrie was occupying the glass.
Sarah came up, and said it was Mrs. Murray Posh and Mr. Lupin.
This was quite a relief. I went down with Carrie, and Lupin met mewith the remark: "I say, what did you run away from the window for?
Did we frighten you?"I foolishly said: "What window?"Lupin said: "Oh, you know. Shut it. You looked as if you wereplaying at Punch and Judy."On Carrie asking if she could offer them anything, Lupin said: "Oh, Ithink Daisy will take on a cup of tea. I can do with a B. and S."I said: "I am afraid we have no soda6."Lupin said: "Don't bother about that. You just trip out and hold thehorse; I don't think Sarah understands it."They stayed a very short time, and as they were leaving, Lupin said:
"I want you both to come and dine with me next Wednesday, and see my new place. Mr. and Mrs. Murray Posh, Miss Posh (Murray's sister) arecoming. Eight o'clock sharp. No one else."I said we did not pretend to be fashionable people, and would like thedinner earlier, as it made it so late before we got home.
Lupin said: "Rats! You must get used to it. If it comes to that,Daisy and I can drive you home."We promised to go; but I must say in my simple mind the familiar wayin which Mrs. Posh and Lupin addressed each other is reprehensible7.
Anybody would think they had been children together. I certainly shouldobject to a six months' acquaintance calling MY wife "Carrie," and drivingout with her.
July 4. - Lupin's rooms looked very nice; but the dinner was, I thought,a little too grand, especially as he commenced with champagne8 straight off.
I also think Lupin might have told us that he and Mr. and Mrs. MurrayPosh and Miss Posh were going to put on full evening dress. Knowingthat the dinner was only for us six, we never dreamed it would be a fulldress affair. I had no appetite. It was quite twenty minutes past eightbefore we sat down to dinner. At six I could have eaten a hearty9 meal. Ihad a bit of bread-and-butter at that hour, feeling famished10, and I expectthat partly spoiled my appetite.
We were introduced to Miss Posh, whom Lupin called "Little Girl," asif he had known her all his life. She was very tall, rather plain, and Ithought she was a little painted round the eyes. I hope I am wrong; butshe had such fair hair, and yet her eyebrows11 were black. She lookedabout thirty. I did not like the way she kept giggling12 and giving Lupinsmacks and pinching him. Then her laugh was a sort of a scream thatwent right through my ears, all the more irritating because there wasnothing to laugh at. In fact, Carrie and I were not at all prepossessedwith her. They all smoked cigarettes after dinner, including Miss Posh,who startled Carrie by saying: "Don't you smoke, dear?" I answeredfor Carrie, and said: "Mrs. Charles Pooter has not arrived at it yet,"whereupon Miss Posh gave one of her piercing laughs again.
Mrs. Posh sang a dozen songs at least, and I can only repeat what Ihave said before - she does NOT sing in tune13; but Lupin sat by the side of the piano, gazing into her eyes the whole time. If I had been Mr. Posh, Ithink I should have had something to say about it. Mr. Posh made himselfvery agreeable to us, and eventually sent us home in his carriage, which Ithought most kind. He is evidently very rich, for Mrs. Posh had on somebeautiful jewellery. She told Carrie her necklace, which her husbandgave her as a birthday present, alone cost 300 pounds.
Mr. Posh said he had a great belief in Lupin, and thought he wouldmake rapid way in the world.
I could not help thinking of the 600 pounds Mr. Posh lost over thePARACHIKKA CHLORATES through Lupin's advice.
During the evening I had an opportunity to speak to Lupin, andexpressed a hope that Mr. Posh was not living beyond his means.
Lupin sneered14, and said Mr. Posh was worth thousands. "Posh's one-price hat" was a household word in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool,and all the big towns throughout England. Lupin further informed methat Mr. Posh was opening branch establishments at New York, Sydney,and Melbourne, and was negotiating for Kimberley and Johannesburg.
I said I was pleased to hear it.
Lupin said: "Why, he has settled over 10,000 pounds on Daisy, andthe same amount on 'Lillie Girl.' If at any time I wanted a little capital,he would put up a couple of 'thou' at a day's notice, and could buy upPerkupp's firm over his head at any moment with ready cash."On the way home in the carriage, for the first time in my life, I wasinclined to indulge in the radical15 thought that money was NOT properlydivided.
On arriving home at a quarter-past eleven, we found a hansom cab,which had been waiting for me for two hours with a letter. Sarah said shedid not know what to do, as we had not left the address where we hadgone. I trembled as I opened the letter, fearing it was some bad newsabout Mr. Perkupp. The note was: "Dear Mr. Pooter, - Come down tothe Victoria Hotel without delay. Important. Yours truly, Hardfur Huttle."I asked the cabman if it was too late. The cabman replied that it wasNOT; for his instructions were, if I happened to be out, he was to wait till Icame home. I felt very tired, and really wanted to go to bed. I reached the hotel at a quarter before midnight. I apologised for being so late, butMr. Huttle said: "Not at all; come and have a few oysters16." I feel myheart beating as I write these words. To be brief, Mr. Huttle said he had arich American friend who wanted to do something large in our line ofbusiness, and that Mr. Franching had mentioned my name to him. Wetalked over the matter. If, by any happy chance, the result be successful,I can more than compensate17 my dear master for the loss of Mr.
Crowbillon's custom. Mr. Huttle had previously18 said: "The glorious'Fourth' is a lucky day for America, and, as it has not yet struck twelve, wewill celebrate it with a glass of the best wine to be had in the place, anddrink good luck to our bit of business."I fervently19 hope it will bring good luck to us all.
It was two o'clock when I got home. Although I was so tired, I couldnot sleep except for short intervals20 - then only to dream.
I kept dreaming of Mr. Perkupp and Mr. Huttle. The latter was in alovely palace with a crown on. Mr. Perkupp was waiting in the room.
Mr. Huttle kept taking off this crown and handing it to me, and calling me"President."He appeared to take no notice of Mr. Perkupp, and I kept asking Mr.
Huttle to give the crown to my worthy21 master. Mr. Huttle kept saying:
"No, this is the White House of Washington, and you must keep yourcrown, Mr. President."We all laughed long and very loudly, till I got parched22, and then Iwoke up. I fell asleep, only to dream the same thing over and over again.
收听单词发音 |
1
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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2
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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8
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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9
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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11
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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13
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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14
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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16
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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17
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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18
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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21
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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