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首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Titan » CHAPTER XXXVI.An Election Draws Near
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XXXVI.An Election Draws Near
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 Subsequently Mr. Kerrigan called on Mr. Tiernan casually1. Mr. Tiernan returned the call. A little later Messrs. Tiernan, Kerrigan, and Gilgan, in a parlor-room in a small hotel in Milwaukee (in order not to be seen together), conferred. Finally Messrs. Tiernan, Edstrom, Kerrigan, and Gilgan met and mapped out a programme of division far too intricate to be indicated here. Needless to say, it involved the division of chief clerks, pro2 rata, of police graft3, of gambling4 and bawdy-house perquisites5, of returns from gas, street-railway, and other organizations. It was sealed with many solemn promises. If it could be made effective this quadrumvirate was to endure for years. Judges, small magistrates6, officers large and small, the shrievalty, the water office, the tax office, all were to come within its purview7. It was a fine, handsome political dream, and as such worthy8 of every courtesy and consideration but it was only a political dream in its ultimate aspects, and as such impressed the participants themselves at times.
 
The campaign was now in full blast. The summer and fall (September and October) went by to the tune9 of Democratic and Republican marching club bands, to the sound of lusty political voices orating in parks, at street-corners, in wooden “wigwams,” halls, tents, and parlors—wherever a meager10 handful of listeners could be drummed up and made by any device to keep still. The newspapers honked12 and bellowed13, as is the way with those profit-appointed advocates and guardians14 of “right” and “justice.” Cowperwood and McKenty were denounced from nearly every street-corner in Chicago. Wagons15 and sign-boards on wheels were hauled about labeled “Break the partnership16 between the street-railway corporations and the city council.” “Do you want more streets stolen?” “Do you want Cowperwood to own Chicago?” Cowperwood himself, coming down-town of a morning or driving home of an evening, saw these things. He saw the huge signs, listened to speeches denouncing himself, and smiled. By now he was quite aware as to whence this powerful uprising had sprung. Hand was back of it, he knew—for so McKenty and Addison had quickly discovered—and with Hand was Schryhart, Arneel, Merrill, the Douglas Trust Company, the various editors, young Truman Leslie MacDonald, the old gas crowd, the Chicago General Company—all. He even suspected that certain aldermen might possibly be suborned to desert him, though all professed17 loyalty18. McKenty, Addison, Videra, and himself were planning the details of their defenses as carefully and effectively as possible. Cowperwood was fully19 alive to the fact that if he lost this election—the first to be vigorously contested—it might involve a serious chain of events; but he did not propose to be unduly20 disturbed, since he could always fight in the courts by money, and by preferment in the council, and with the mayor and the city attorney. “There is more than one way to kill a cat,” was one of his pet expressions, and it expressed his logic21 and courage exactly. Yet he did not wish to lose.
 
One of the amusing features of the campaign was that the McKenty orators22 had been instructed to shout as loudly for reforms as the Republicans, only instead of assailing23 Cowperwood and McKenty they were to point out that Schryhart’s Chicago City Railway was far more rapacious24, and that this was a scheme to give it a blanket franchise25 of all streets not yet covered by either the Cowperwood or the Schryhart-Hand-Arneel lines. It was a pretty argument. The Democrats26 could point with pride to a uniformly liberal interpretation27 of some trying Sunday laws, whereby under Republican and reform administrations it had been occasionally difficult for the honest working-man to get his glass or pail of beer on Sunday. On the other hand it was possible for the Republican orators to show how “the low dives and gin-mills” were everywhere being operated in favor of McKenty, and that under the highly respectable administration of the Republican candidate for mayor this partnership between the city government and vice11 and crime would be nullified.
 
“If I am elected,” declared the Honorable Chaffee Thayer Sluss, the Republican candidate, “neither Frank Cowperwood nor John McKenty will dare to show his face in the City Hall unless he comes with clean hands and an honest purpose.
 
“Hooray!” yelled the crowd.
 
“I know that ass,” commented Addison, when he read this in the Transcript28. “He used to be a clerk in the Douglas Trust Company. He’s made a little money recently in the paper business. He’s a mere29 tool for the Arneel-Schryhart interests. He hasn’t the courage of a two-inch fish-worm.”
 
When McKenty read it he simply observed: “There are other ways of going to City Hall than by going yourself.” He was depending upon a councilmanic majority at least.
 
However, in the midst of this uproar30 the goings to and fro of Gilgan, Edstrom, Kerrigan, and Tiernan were nor fully grasped. A more urbanely31 shifty pair than these latter were never seen. While fraternizing secretly with both Gilgan and Edstrom, laying out their political programme most neatly32, they were at the same time conferring with Dowling, Duvanicki, even McKenty himself. Seeing that the outcome was, for some reason—he could scarcely see why—looking very uncertain, McKenty one day asked the two of them to come to see him. On getting the letter Mr. Tiernan strolled over to Mr. Kerrigan’s place to see whether he also had received a message.
 
“Sure, sure! I did!” replied Mr. Kerrigan, gaily33. “Here it is now in me outside coat pocket. ‘Dear Mr. Kerrigan,’” he read, “‘won’t you do me the favor to come over to-morrow evening at seven and dine with me? Mr. Ungerich, Mr. Duvanicki, and several others will very likely drop in afterward34. I have asked Mr. Tiernan to come at the same time. Sincerely, John J. McKenty.’ That’s the way he does it,” added Mr. Kerrigan; “just like that.”
 
He kissed the letter mockingly and put it back into his pocket.
 
“Sure I got one, jist the same way. The very same langwidge, nearly,” commented Mr. Tiernan, sweetly. “He’s beginning to wake up, eh? What! The little old first and second are beginning to look purty big just now, eh? What!”
 
“Tush!” observed Mr. Kerrigan to Mr. Tiernan, with a marked sardonic36 emphasis, “that combination won’t last forever. They’ve been getting too big for their pants, I’m thinking. Well, it’s a long road, eh? It’s pretty near time, what?”
 
“You’re right,” responded Mr. Tiernan, feelingly. “It is a long road. These are the two big wards37 of the city, and everybody knows it. If we turn on them at the last moment where will they be, eh?”
 
He put a fat finger alongside of his heavy reddish nose and looked at Mr. Kerrigan out of squinted38 eyes.
 
“You’re damned right,” replied the little politician, cheerfully.
 
They went to the dinner separately, so as not to appear to have conferred before, and greeted each other on arriving as though they had not seen each other for days.
 
“How’s business, Mike?”
 
“Oh, fair, Pat. How’s things with you?”
 
“So so.”
 
“Things lookin’ all right in your ward35 for November?”
 
Mr. Tiernan wrinkled a fat forehead. “Can’t tell yet.” All this was for the benefit of Mr. McKenty, who did not suspect rank party disloyalty.
 
Nothing much came of this conference, except that they sat about discussing in a general way wards, pluralities, what Zeigler was likely to do with the twelfth, whether Pinski could make it in the sixth, Schlumbohm in the twentieth, and so on. New Republican contestants39 in old, safe Democratic wards were making things look dubious40.
 
“And how about the first, Kerrigan?” inquired Ungerich, a thin, reflective German-American of shrewd presence. Ungerich was one who had hitherto wormed himself higher in McKenty’s favor than either Kerrigan or Tiernan.
 
“Oh, the first’s all right,” replied Kerrigan, archly. “Of course you never can tell. This fellow Scully may do something, but I don’t think it will be much. If we have the same police protection—”
 
Ungerich was gratified. He was having a struggle in his own ward, where a rival by the name of Glover appeared to be pouring out money like water. He would require considerably41 more money than usual to win. It was the same with Duvanicki.
 
McKenty finally parted with his lieutenants—more feelingly with Kerrigan and Tiernan than he had ever done before. He did not wholly trust these two, and he could not exactly admire them and their methods, which were the roughest of all, but they were useful.
 
“I’m glad to learn,” he said, at parting, “that things are looking all right with you, Pat, and you, Mike,” nodding to each in turn. “We’re going to need the most we can get out of everybody. I depend on you two to make a fine showing—the best of any. The rest of us will not forget it when the plums are being handed around afterward.”
 
“Oh, you can depend on me to do the best I can always,” commented Mr. Kerrigan, sympathetically. “It’s a tough year, but we haven’t failed yet.”
 
“And me, Chief! That goes for me,” observed Mr. Tiernan, raucously42. “I guess I can do as well as I have.”
 
“Good for you, Mike!” soothed43 McKenty, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. “And you, too, Kerrigan. Yours are the key wards, and we understand that. I’ve always been sorry that the leaders couldn’t agree on you two for something better than councilmen; but next time there won’t be any doubt of it, if I have any influence then.” He went in and closed the door. Outside a cool October wind was whipping dead leaves and weed stalks along the pavements. Neither Tiernan nor Kerrigan spoke44, though they had come away together, until they were two hundred feet down the avenue toward Van Buren.
 
“Some talk, that, eh?” commented Mr. Tiernan, eying Mr. Kerrigan in the flare45 of a passing gas-lamp.
 
“Sure. That’s the stuff they always hand out when they’re up against it. Pretty kind words, eh?”
 
“And after ten years of about the roughest work that’s done, eh? It’s about time, what? Say, it’s a wonder he didn’t think of that last June when the convention was in session.
 
“Tush! Mikey,” smiled Mr. Kerrigan, grimly. “You’re a bad little boy. You want your pie too soon. Wait another two or four or six years, like Paddy Kerrigan and the others.”
 
“Yes, I will—not,” growled46 Mr. Tiernan. “Wait’ll the sixth.”
 
“No more, will I,” replied Mr. Kerrigan. “Say, we know a trick that beats that next-year business to a pulp47. What?”
 
“You’re dead right,” commented Mr. Tiernan.
 
And so they went peacefully home.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
2 pro tk3zvX     
n.赞成,赞成的意见,赞成者
参考例句:
  • The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
  • Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军?
3 graft XQBzg     
n.移植,嫁接,艰苦工作,贪污;v.移植,嫁接
参考例句:
  • I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
  • The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。
4 gambling ch4xH     
n.赌博;投机
参考例句:
  • They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
  • The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。
5 perquisites dbac144a28a35478a06d6053de3793f6     
n.(工资以外的)财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 );额外收入;(随职位而得到的)好处;利益
参考例句:
  • She gets various perquisites in addition to her wages. 她工资以外,还有各种津贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They are rewarded in pay,power and perquisites. 作为报偿,他们得到了钱、权力和额外收益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 magistrates bbe4eeb7cda0f8fbf52949bebe84eb3e     
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
  • He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。
7 purview HC7yr     
n.范围;眼界
参考例句:
  • These are questions that lie outside the purview of our inquiry.这些都不是属于我们调查范围的问题。
  • That,however,was beyond the purview of the court;it was a diplomatic matter.但是,那已不在法庭权限之内;那是个外交问题。
8 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
9 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
10 meager zB5xZ     
adj.缺乏的,不足的,瘦的
参考例句:
  • He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
  • The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火,开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。
11 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
12 honked b787ca4a3834aa71da55df2b9bcafdfe     
v.(使)发出雁叫似的声音,鸣(喇叭),按(喇叭)( honk的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I drove up in front of the house and honked. 我将车开到屋子前面然后按喇叭。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He honked his horn as he went past. 他经过时按响了汽车喇叭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 bellowed fa9ba2065b18298fa17a6311db3246fc     
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的过去式和过去分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫
参考例句:
  • They bellowed at her to stop. 他们吼叫着让她停下。
  • He bellowed with pain when the tooth was pulled out. 当牙齿被拔掉时,他痛得大叫。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
14 guardians 648b3519bd4469e1a48dff4dc4827315     
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者
参考例句:
  • Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
  • The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。
15 wagons ff97c19d76ea81bb4f2a97f2ff0025e7     
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车
参考例句:
  • The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
  • They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。
16 partnership NmfzPy     
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
参考例句:
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
17 professed 7151fdd4a4d35a0f09eaf7f0f3faf295     
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的
参考例句:
  • These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
  • Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。
18 loyalty gA9xu     
n.忠诚,忠心
参考例句:
  • She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
  • His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。
19 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
20 unduly Mp4ya     
adv.过度地,不适当地
参考例句:
  • He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
  • He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。
21 logic j0HxI     
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性
参考例句:
  • What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑?
  • I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。
22 orators 08c37f31715969550bbb2f814266d9d2     
n.演说者,演讲家( orator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The hired orators continued to pour forth their streams of eloquence. 那些雇来的演说家继续滔滔不绝地施展辩才。 来自辞典例句
  • Their ears are too full of bugles and drums and the fine words from stay-at-home orators. 人们的耳朵被军号声和战声以及呆在这的演说家们的漂亮言辞塞得太满了。 来自飘(部分)
23 assailing 35dc1268357e0e1c6775595c8b6d087b     
v.攻击( assail的现在分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对
参考例句:
  • Last-minute doubts were assailing her. 最后一分钟中的犹豫涌上心头。 来自辞典例句
  • The pressing darkness increased the tension in every student's heart, assailing them with a nameless fear. 黑暗压下来,使每个人的心情变得更紧张。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
24 rapacious hAzzh     
adj.贪婪的,强夺的
参考例句:
  • He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
  • Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。
25 franchise BQnzu     
n.特许,特权,专营权,特许权
参考例句:
  • Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
  • The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。
26 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 interpretation P5jxQ     
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理
参考例句:
  • His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
  • Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。
28 transcript JgpzUp     
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书
参考例句:
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
29 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
30 uproar LHfyc     
n.骚动,喧嚣,鼎沸
参考例句:
  • She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
  • His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。
31 urbanely 349796911438d2ceb31beb51b98ffd7e     
adv.都市化地,彬彬有礼地,温文尔雅地
参考例句:
  • Don't let the repoter spook you, and you have to behave urbanely. 别让记者缠住你,而你还得举止文雅。 来自互联网
32 neatly ynZzBp     
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地
参考例句:
  • Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
  • The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。
33 gaily lfPzC     
adv.欢乐地,高兴地
参考例句:
  • The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
  • She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。
34 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
35 ward LhbwY     
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开
参考例句:
  • The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
  • During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时,我要点根火把,抵挡蚊虫。
36 sardonic jYyxL     
adj.嘲笑的,冷笑的,讥讽的
参考例句:
  • She gave him a sardonic smile.她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。
  • There was a sardonic expression on her face.她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。
37 wards 90fafe3a7d04ee1c17239fa2d768f8fc     
区( ward的名词复数 ); 病房; 受监护的未成年者; 被人照顾或控制的状态
参考例句:
  • This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
  • It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区,下设三个分区。
38 squinted aaf7c56a51bf19a5f429b7a9ddca2e9b     
斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 ); 眯着眼睛; 瞟; 从小孔或缝隙里看
参考例句:
  • Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩,眯起眼睛瞄准。
  • I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。
39 contestants 6183e6ae4586949fe63bec42c8d3a422     
n.竞争者,参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》
40 dubious Akqz1     
adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的
参考例句:
  • What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
  • He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。
41 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
42 raucously 7a9ff8101225a7f5c71d3a0d4117a6e9     
adv.粗声地;沙哑地
参考例句:
  • His voice rang raucously. 他的声音听起来很沙哑。 来自互联网
  • Someone in the hushed bar suddenly laughed raucously at how stupid everyone had become. 沉默的酒吧中有人忽然沙哑地大笑起来,嘲笑每个人都变的如此的愚蠢。 来自互联网
43 soothed 509169542d21da19b0b0bd232848b963     
v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 );抚慰;使舒服;减轻痛苦
参考例句:
  • The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
  • The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
44 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
45 flare LgQz9     
v.闪耀,闪烁;n.潮红;突发
参考例句:
  • The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
  • You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。
46 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
47 pulp Qt4y9     
n.果肉,纸浆;v.化成纸浆,除去...果肉,制成纸浆
参考例句:
  • The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
  • The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。


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