Part 2 In The Breton Land Chapter 7

　　"His sweetheart's a trifle old!" said the others, a couple of days later, asthey laughed after Sylvestre and his grandmother, "but they seem to get onfine together all the same."It amused them to see the boy, for the first time, walk through thestreets of Recouvrance, with a woman at his side, like the rest of them; and,bending towards her with a tender look, whisper what seemed to be verysoft nothings.

　　She was a very quick, diminutive¹ person seen from behind, with rathershort skirts for the fashion of the day; and a scanty² brown shawl, and ahigh Paimpol /coiffe/. She, too, hanging on his arm, turned towards himwith an affectionate glance.

　　"A trifle old was his sweetheart!"That's what the others called after him, we say, but without spite, forany one could see that she was his old granny, come up from the country.

　　She had come, too, in a hurry, suddenly terrified at the news of his suddendeparture; for this Chinese war had already cost Paimpol many sailors. Soshe had scraped together all her poor little savings³, put her best Sundaydress and a fresh clean /coiffe/ in a box, and had set out to kiss him once61AN ICELAND FISHERMANagain.

　　She had gone straight to the barracks to ask for him; at first hisadjutant had refused to let him go out.

　　"If you've anything to say, my good woman, go and speak to thecaptain yourself. There he is, passing."So she calmly walked up to him, and he allowed himself to be wonover.

　　"Send Moan to change his clothes, to go out," said he.

　　All in hot haste Moan had gone to rig up in his best attire⁴, while thegood old lady, to make him laugh, of course, made a most inimitably drollface and a mock curtsey at the adjutant behind his back.

　　But when the grandson appeared in his full uniform, with theinevitable turned-down collar, leaving his throat bare, she was quite struckwith his beauty; his black beard was cut into a seamanly⁵ fashionable pointby the barber, and his cap was decked out with long floating ribbons, witha golden anchor at each end. For the moment she almost saw in him herson Pierre, who, twenty years before, had also been a sailor in the navy,and the remembrance of the far past, with all its dead, stealthily shadowedthe present hour.

　　But the sadness soon passed away. Arm-in-arm they strolled on, happyto be together; and it was then that the others had pretended to see in herhis sweetheart, and voted her "a trifle old."She had taken him, for a treat, to dine in an inn kept by some peoplefrom Paimpol, which had been recommended to her as rather cheap. Andthen, still arm-in-arm, they had sauntered through Brest, looking at theshop-windows. There never were such funny stories told as those she toldher grandson to make him laugh; of course all in Paimpol Breton, so thatthe passers-by might not understand.

1 diminutive   

adj.小巧可爱的，小的

参考例句：

• Despite its diminutive size,the car is quite comfortable.尽管这辆车很小，但相当舒服。
• She has diminutive hands for an adult.作为一个成年人，她的手显得非常小。

2 scanty   

adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的

参考例句：

• There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
• The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。

3 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

4 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

5 seamanly   

水手一样地

参考例句：

• Is that seamanly behaviour, now, I want to know? 这是水手的作风吗？我倒真想问问他们。