Foreword

 TO THE UNFORTUNATE READER. In this little Extravaganza, I have done just what I intended. I have attempted to describe, in an auto-biographical sort of way, a well-meaning, but somewhat vain young gentleman, who, having flirted¹ desperately² with the Magazines, takes it into his silly head to write a novel, all the chapters of which are laid before the reader, with some running criticism by T. James Barescythe, Esquire, the book-noticer of "The Morning Glory," ("a journal devoted³ to the Fine Arts and the Amelioration of all Mankind,") and the type of a certain class which need not be distinctly specified⁴ for recognition. I have endeavored to make the novel of my literary hero such a one as a young man with fine taste and crude talent might produce; and I think I have succeeded. It is certainly sufficiently⁵ unfinished. In drawing the character of Barescythe, the point of my quill⁶ may have pierced a friend; and if you ask, like Ludovico, "What shall be said of thee?" I shall answer, like Othello, "Why, anything: An honorable murderer, if you will; For nought⁷ I did in hate, but all in honor." The only audacious thing I have done is the writing of this preface. If there is anything more stupid than a "preface," it is a book-critic. If anything could be more stupid than a book-critic, it would be a preface. But, thank heaven, there is not. In saying this, I refer to a particular critic; for I would not, for the sake of a tenth edition, malign⁸ in such a wholesale⁹ manner those capital good fellows of the press--those verbal accoucheurs who are so pleasantly officious at the birth of each new genius. Not I. I have

 

    "A fellow-feeling"

 

and a love for them, which would seem like a bid for their good nature, if expressed here. I have put my name on the title-page of this trifle from principle. My pen-children are all mine, and I cannot think of disowning one, though it may happen to be born hump-backed. But I beg of you, gentlest of unfortunate readers, not to take DAISY'S NECKLACE as a serious exponent¹⁰ of my skill at story-telling. It is not printed at the "urgent request of numerous friends"--I am so fortunate as not to have many--but a seductive little argument in the shape of a cheque is the sole cause of its present form; otherwise, I should be content to let it die an easy death in the columns of the journal which first had the temerity¹¹ to publish it. If the world could always know, as it may in this case, why a book is printed, it would look with kindlier eyes on dullness bound in muslin. It would say, with honest Sancho Panza: "Let us not look the gift-horse in the mouth." When the sunshine of this dear old world has reddened the wine in my heart--melted down its sparkles to a creamy flavor, I will give you a richer draught--mayhap a beaker of Hippocrene. Till then, may God's blessing¹² be on us both, though neither of us deserve it. CLINTON PLACE, 1856.

1 flirted   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

2 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

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 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

5 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 quill   

n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶

参考例句：

• He wrote with a quill.他用羽毛笔写字。
• She dipped a quill in ink,and then began to write.她将羽毛笔在墨水里蘸了一下，随后开始书写。

7 nought   

n.／adj.无，零

参考例句：

• We must bring their schemes to nought.我们必须使他们的阴谋彻底破产。
• One minus one leaves nought.一减一等于零。

8 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

9 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

10 exponent   

n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂

参考例句：

• She is an exponent of vegetarianism.她是一个素食主义的倡导者。
• He had been the principal exponent of the Gallipoli campaign.他曾为加里波利战役的主要代表人物。

11 temerity   

n.鲁莽，冒失

参考例句：

• He had the temerity to ask for higher wages after only a day's work.只工作了一天，他就蛮不讲理地要求增加工资。
• Tins took some temerity,but it was fruitless.这件事做得有点莽撞，但结果还是无用。

12 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。