The log cabin in which she dwelt with her parents was just outside the enclosure in which she had been sleeping. Beyond was a small clearing that did duty as a cotton field. All else was dense2 wood, except the long stretch that curved round the brow of the hill, 174and in which glittered the steel rails of the Texas and Pacific road.
When Caline emerged from the shadow she saw a long train of passenger coaches standing3 in view, where they must have stopped abruptly4. It was that sudden stopping which had awakened5 her; for such a thing had not happened before within her recollection, and she looked stupid, at first, with astonishment6. There seemed to be something wrong with the engine; and some of the passengers who dismounted went forward to investigate the trouble. Others came strolling along in the direction of the cabin, where Caline stood under an old gnarled mulberry tree, staring. Her father had halted his mule7 at the end of the cotton row, and stood staring also, leaning upon his plow8.
There were ladies in the party. They walked awkwardly in their high-heeled boots over the rough, uneven9 ground, and held up their skirts mincingly10. They twirled parasols over their shoulders, and laughed immoderately at the funny things which their masculine companions were saying.
175They tried to talk to Caline, but could not understand the French patois11 with which she answered them.
One of the men—a pleasant-faced youngster—drew a sketch12 book from his pocket and began to make a picture of the girl. She stayed motionless, her hands behind her, and her wide eyes fixed13 earnestly upon him.
Before he had finished there was a summons from the train; and all went scampering14 hurriedly away. The engine screeched15, it sent a few lazy puffs16 into the still air, and in another moment or two had vanished, bearing its human cargo17 with it.
Caline could not feel the same after that. She looked with new and strange interest upon the trains of cars that passed so swiftly back and forth18 across her vision, each day; and wondered whence these people came, and whither they were going.
Her mother and father could not tell her, except to say that they came from “loin là bas,” and were going “Djieu sait é où.”
One day she walked miles down the track to talk with the old flagman, who stayed down there by the big water tank. Yes, he 176knew. Those people came from the great cities in the north, and were going to the city in the south. He knew all about the city; it was a grand place. He had lived there once. His sister lived there now; and she would be glad enough to have so fine a girl as Caline to help her cook and scrub, and tend the babies. And he thought Caline might earn as much as five dollars a month, in the city.
So she went; in a new cotonade, and her Sunday shoes; with a sacredly guarded scrawl19 that the flagman sent to his sister.
The woman lived in a tiny, stuccoed house, with green blinds, and three wooden steps leading down to the banquette. There seemed to be hundreds like it along the street. Over the house tops loomed20 the tall masts of ships, and the hum of the French market could be heard on a still morning.
Caline was at first bewildered. She had to readjust all her preconceptions to fit the reality of it. The flagman’s sister was a kind and gentle task-mistress. At the end of a week or two she wanted to know how the girl liked it all. Caline liked it very well, for it was pleasant, on Sunday afternoons, to stroll 177with the children under the great, solemn sugar sheds; or to sit upon the compressed cotton bales, watching the stately steamers, the graceful21 boats, and noisy little tugs22 that plied23 the waters of the Mississippi. And it filled her with agreeable excitement to go to the French market, where the handsome Gascon butchers were eager to present their compliments and little Sunday bouquets24 to the pretty Acadian girl; and to throw fistfuls of lagniappe into her basket.
When the woman asked her again after another week if she were still pleased, she was not so sure. And again when she questioned Caline the girl turned away, and went to sit behind the big, yellow cistern25, to cry unobserved. For she knew now that it was not the great city and its crowds of people she had so eagerly sought; but the pleasant-faced boy, who had made her picture that day under the mulberry tree.
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1 inviting | |
adj.诱人的,引人注目的 | |
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2 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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3 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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4 abruptly | |
adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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5 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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6 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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7 mule | |
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人 | |
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8 plow | |
n.犁,耕地,犁过的地;v.犁,费力地前进[英]plough | |
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9 uneven | |
adj.不平坦的,不规则的,不均匀的 | |
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10 mincingly | |
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11 patois | |
n.方言;混合语 | |
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12 sketch | |
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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13 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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14 scampering | |
v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑,惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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15 screeched | |
v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 );发出粗而刺耳的声音;高叫 | |
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16 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 | |
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17 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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18 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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19 scrawl | |
vt.潦草地书写;n.潦草的笔记,涂写 | |
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20 loomed | |
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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21 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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22 tugs | |
n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 );猛拖;拖船v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23 plied | |
v.使用(工具)( ply的过去式和过去分词 );经常供应(食物、饮料);固定往来;经营生意 | |
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24 bouquets | |
n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 );(酒的)芳香 | |
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25 cistern | |
n.贮水池 | |
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