CHAPTER XXXI DEMOCRITUS ARRIVES TO STAY

 General Carden in his smoking-room was listening, waiting. Fifty times already in the last half-hour he had looked over the curtain that veiled the lower half of the window. Fifty times he had looked at the clock on the mantelpiece and compared it with his watch.

 

An orange envelope lay on the table beside him, and with it a strip of pink paper. He knew the words thereon verbatim; certainly they were few in number:

 

“Found. Arrive Euston four o’clock to-day.—Lancing.”

 

On the receipt of this brief missive General Carden’s heart had thumped¹ violently. He had found voice to pass the good news on to the devoted³ Goring⁴, but it was well on half an hour before voice and heart were under his normal control.

 

Muriel had descended⁵ on him radiant, triumphant⁶, a-bubble with joy and glee, showering her congratulations.

 

“Come to Mrs. Cresswell’s dance to-morrow night,” she implored⁷, “and bring him with you. I want to shake hands with Don Quixote. I have never before met him in the flesh.” But behind this desire, and stronger than it, was the knowledge that Anne would be there, and, woman-like, she longed for an immediate⁸ meeting of the two.

 

“We’ll see,” promised General Carden, smiling indulgently as at a pleading child. In his heart he longed to parade London with his son and let the whole world be witness to his return, to their reunion.

 

Again he glanced at the clock. Any moment now! He tried to quell⁹ the tumult¹⁰ of expectation within him.

 

Dare one penetrate¹¹ a little way into the mind of the reserved old man, guess at the tide of memory he had at last allowed to flow back to his heart? For years he had kept it relentlessly¹² at its ebb¹³, a long barren shore between him and its waters. He had feared to be submerged in its flood; he had feared that, should it approach him, [Pg 304]it would come swiftly, remorselessly, drowning him in its depths, choking the life out of him with a deadly, icy cold. Now, and now only, he realized the sweetness of its waters, realized that their approach would be not to submerge but to lift him on buoyant waves—waves warm, exuberant¹⁴, joyous¹⁵. Oh, it might come now, come in all its strength, come bearing life in its flow! No longer a barren, desolate¹⁶ shore between him and those waters. Throughout the day the wavelets had lapped ever softly, gently nearer. Now calmly, joyously¹⁷, they lifted him on their surface.

 

There was the old house down in the country, with the pear-tree whose branches reached the window of that octagon-room. It should be restored, re-inhabited. There was the river that ran below its grounds, wherein speckled trout¹⁸ and silver salmon¹⁹ abounded²⁰. Many were the fish he had caught there, many the fish Peter had caught. What was to prevent them from catching²¹ more? Already in thought the speckled trout lay gasping²² on the bank, the silver salmon were giving play in the long reaches of water between the meadows. There was the shooting, too—the pheasants, the partridges, the snipe in the swampy²³ ground beyond the old mill, the wild duck where some seven miles distant the arm of the sea ran up to meet the river. The old days again! Memory carried him on her tide towards the future.

 

And then into the midst of his thoughts came a sound that brought his old heart fluttering to his throat—the sound of the front-door bell.

 

He held on to the arms of his chair, his eyes upon the door. It opened.

 

“Mr. Peter!” Goring’s voice was on a note of exultation²⁴.

 

And into the room came a tall, lean man, a mongrel dog at his heels.

 

“Hullo, father!”

 

“Well, my boy!”

 

There was a grip of hands. Then the old man was sitting again by the fire, Peter opposite to him. There was a little silence. Democritus, sniffing²⁵ at the black, hairy hearthrug, was completely engrossed²⁶ with his own occupation. In the silence the two men watched him.

 

Presently he curled down with a thump². A quivering sigh of satisfaction passed through his body.

 

“It is evident,” said Peter with a little laugh, “that Democritus has come to stay.”

1 thumped   

v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
• He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。

2 thump   

v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声

参考例句：

• The thief hit him a thump on the head.贼在他的头上重击一下。
• The excitement made her heart thump.她兴奋得心怦怦地跳。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 goring   

v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• General Goring spoke for about two hours. 戈林将军的发言持续了大约两个小时。 来自英汉非文学 - 新闻报道
• Always do they talk that way with their arrogance before a goring. 他们挨牛角之前，总是这样吹大牛。 来自辞典例句

5 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

6 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

7 implored   

恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
• She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

10 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

11 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

12 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

13 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

14 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

15 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

16 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

17 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分

18 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

19 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

20 abounded   

v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Get-rich-quick schemes abounded, and many people lost their savings. “生财之道”遍地皆是，然而许多人一生积攒下来的钱转眼之间付之东流。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Shoppers thronged the sidewalks. Olivedrab and navy-blue uniforms abounded. 人行道上逛商店的人摩肩接踵，身着草绿色和海军蓝军装的军人比比皆是。 来自辞典例句

21 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

22 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

23 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

24 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。

25 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

26 engrossed   

adj.全神贯注的

参考例句：

• The student is engrossed in his book.这名学生正在专心致志地看书。
• No one had ever been quite so engrossed in an evening paper.没人会对一份晚报如此全神贯注。