Part 3 In The Shadow Chapter 15

At Paimpol lives a large, stout¹ woman named Madame Tressoleur. In oneof the streets that lead to the harbour she keeps a tavern², well knownto all the Icelanders, where captains and ship-owners come to engagetheir sailors, and choose the strongest among them, men and mastersall drinking together.

　　At one time she had been beautiful, and was still jolly with thefishers; she has a mustache, is as broad built as a Dutchman, and asbold and ready of speech as a Levantine. There is a look of thedaughter of the regiment³ about her, notwithstanding her ample nun-likemuslin headgear; for all that, a religious halo of its sort floatsaround her, for the simple reason that she is a Breton born.

　　The names of all the sailors of the country are written in her head asin a register; she knows them all, good or bad, and knows exactly,too, what they earn and what they are worth.

　　One January day, Gaud, who had been called in to make a dress, satdown to work in a room behind the tap-room.

　　To go into the abode⁴ of our Madame Tressoleur, you enter by a broad,massive-pillared door, which recedes⁵ in the olden style under thefirst floor. When you go to open this door, there is always someobliging gust⁶ of wind from the street that pushes it in, and the new-comers make an abrupt⁷ entrance, as if carried in by a beach roller.

　　The hall is adorned⁸ by gilt⁹ frames, containing pictures of ships andwrecks. In an angle a china statuette of the Virgin¹⁰ is placed on abracket, between two bunches of artificial flowers.

　　These olden walls must have listened to many powerful songs ofsailors, and witnessed many wild gay scenes, since the first far-offdays of Paimpol--all through the lively times of the privateers, up tothese of the present Icelanders, so very little different from theirancestors. Many lives of men have been angled for and hooked there, onthe oaken tables, between two drunken bouts¹¹.

　　While she was sewing the dress, Gaud lent her ear to the conversationgoing on about Iceland, behind the partition, between MadameTressoleur and two old sailors, drinking. They were discussing a newcraft that was being rigged in the harbour. She never would be readyfor the next season, so they said of this /Leopoldine/.

　　"Oh, yes, to be sure she will!" answered the hostess. "I tell 'ee thecrew was all made up yesterday--the whole of 'em out of the old/Marie/ of Guermeur's, that's to be sold for breaking up; five youngfellows signed their engagement here before me, at this here table,and with my own pen--so ye see, I'm right! And fine fellows, too, Ican tell 'ee; Laumec, Tugdual Caroff, Yvon Duff, young Keraez fromTreguier, and long Yann Gaos from Pors-Even, who's worth any three on'em!"The /Leopoldine/! The half-heard name of the ship that was to carryYann away became suddenly fixed¹² in her brain, as if it had beenhammered in to remain more ineffaceably there.

　　At night back again at Ploubazlanec, and finishing off her work by thelight of her pitiful lamp, that name came back to her mind, and itsvery sound impressed her as a sad thing. The names of vessels¹³, as ofthings, have a significance in themselves--almost a particular meaningof their own. The new and unusual word haunted her with an unnaturalpersistency, like some ghastly and clinging warning. She had expectedto see Yann start off again on the /Marie/, which she knew so well andhad formerly¹⁴ visited, and whose Virgin had so long protected itsdangerous voyages; and the change to the /Leopoldine/ increased heranguish.

　　But she told herself that that was not her concern, and nothing abouthim ought ever to affect her. After all, what could it matter to herwhether he were here or there, on this ship or another, ashore¹⁵ or not?

　　Would she feel less miserable¹⁶ with him back in Iceland, when thesummer would return over the deserted¹⁷ cottages, and lonely anxiouswomen--or when a new autumn came again, bringing home the fishers oncemore? All that was alike indifferent to her, equally without joy orhope. There was no link between them now, nothing ever to bring themtogether, for was he not forgetting even poor little Sylvestre? So,she had plainly to understand that this sole dream of her life wasover for ever; she had to forget Yann, and all things appertaining tohis existence, even the very name of Iceland, which still vibrated inher with so painful a charm--because of him all such thoughts must beswept away. All was indeed over, for ever and ever.

　　She tenderly looked over at the poor old woman asleep, who stillrequired all her attention, but who would soon die. Then, what wouldbe the good of living and working after that; of what use would shebe?

　　Out of doors, the western wind had again risen; and, notwithstandingits deep distant soughing, the soft regular patter of the eaves-droppings could be heard as they dripped from the roof. And so thetears of the forsaken¹⁸ one began to flow--tears running even to herlips to impart their briny¹⁹ taste, and dropping silently on her work,like summer showers brought by no breeze, but suddenly falling,hurried and heavy, from the over-laden clouds; as she could no longersee to work, and she felt worked out and discouraged before this greathollowness of her life, she folded up the extra-sized body of MadameTressoleur and went to bed.

　　She shivered upon that fine, grand bed, for, like all things in thecottage, it seemed also to be getting colder and damper. But as shewas very young, although she still continued weeping, it ended by hergrowing warm and falling asleep.

2 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

3 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

4 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

5 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句

6 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

7 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

8 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

9 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

10 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

11 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

15 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

16 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

17 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

18 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

19 briny   

adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋

参考例句：

• The briny water is not good for the growth of the trees.海水不利于这种树木的生长。
• The briny air gave a foretaste of the nearby sea.咸空气是快近海的前兆。