They were so polite, so gentlemanly, so pathetic, and so well informed. They seemed able to talk upon any subject, although they all had a marvellous knack5 of twisting any topic round to the one they were interested in. The luxuriance and fruitfulness of their imaginations, too, always impressed me, and although I always deprecated them wasting their time over so impecunious6 a tradesman as I was I had a good deal of joy in their company, bright and cheerful as it always was. But I have also to confess that they were dangerous counsellors. Their pleading for small orders, just one line, their utter indifference7 to the payment, making it so fatally easy to get into debt, I look back upon now with horror. And yet I suppose it is of the essence of business, this hopeful airy outlook upon life. I now see that I might have stocked my shop with the choicest products, might have made it glow again and—but never mind—that comes later. I am not, never was, a strong-minded person; except in certain very restricted directions I am exceedingly prone8 to take the line of least resistance, but I do feel just a little puffed9 up with the knowledge that I was so often able to say no and stick to it in spite of all the blandishments of those delightful10 drummers.
I had been about a year in the shop when I realised that I could no longer expect to do any good whatever with the fancy department. The Islanders had obviously no aspirations11 in the direction of crewel work, applique or any other form of art embroidery12. Or if they had they did not consider that my emporium was the place to satisfy them. So I began to face the possibility of writing off all the expenditure13 on that side as a loss, and the only question was, whose? For beyond all controversy14 I was now in debt—how much I would not know, dared not contemplate15. But as my picture-framing was still a going concern, and subject to sudden spasmodic accessions of trade, I was always kept on the tenterhooks16 of expectation—I dare not say hope—that one big order might put things right. In this I was doubtless somewhat encouraged by a sympathetic fellow-clerk, who used to suggest to me the possibility of my getting orders for frames to be exhibited say in all the stations from King's Cross to Aberdeen, and just for fun we often used to speculate upon the profits to be obtained from such a contract. I knew perfectly17 well that I stood not the slightest chance of getting such a bit of fat as such a contract would be, but I felt that it cost nothing to build a castle or two upon its possibilities, and so I did.
Indeed I wanted some romance in my grey life now, for I was getting hemmed18 in on every side. The rates kept going up, the gas bills were crushing, sickness was perennial19 with us owing to the bad drainage of the house, and to make matters very much worse, the structural20 conditions of the place rendered it barely habitable. The landlord would do nothing, and I could do nothing, towards making the house fit to live in; and in consequence, as he lived next door, our relations, as they say in the newspapers, were strained. I blamed him then, but now I repent21 that I did so, for he was a poor man also, and he must have often felt that his rent was in[Pg 128] the greatest danger. As indeed it was, although I gratefully remember that I did pay him all that he was entitled to, not indeed without some slight coercion22, but still I did pay.
点击收听单词发音
1 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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2 concise | |
adj.简洁的,简明的 | |
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3 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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4 wares | |
n. 货物, 商品 | |
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5 knack | |
n.诀窍,做事情的灵巧的,便利的方法 | |
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6 impecunious | |
adj.不名一文的,贫穷的 | |
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7 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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8 prone | |
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的 | |
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9 puffed | |
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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10 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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11 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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12 embroidery | |
n.绣花,刺绣;绣制品 | |
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13 expenditure | |
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗 | |
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14 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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15 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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16 tenterhooks | |
n.坐立不安 | |
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17 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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18 hemmed | |
缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 ); 包围 | |
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19 perennial | |
adj.终年的;长久的 | |
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20 structural | |
adj.构造的,组织的,建筑(用)的 | |
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21 repent | |
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔 | |
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22 coercion | |
n.强制,高压统治 | |
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