CHAPTER XXVI.

 The harmony of summer sunlight on leaf and blade of green was not known to the two windows, which looked forth¹ at an obviously endless building of brownstone about which there was the poetry of a prison. Inside, great folds of lace swept down in orderly cascades², as water trained to fall mathematically. The colossal³ chandelier, gleaming like a Siamese headdress, caught the subtle flashes from unknown places.

 

Hawker heard a step and the soft swishing of a woman's dress. He turned toward the door swiftly, with a certain dramatic impulsiveness⁴. But when she entered the room he said, "How delighted I am to see you again!"

 

She had said, "Why, Mr. Hawker, it was so charming in you to come!"

 

It did not appear that Hawker's tongue could wag to his purpose. The girl seemed in her mind to be frantically⁵ shuffling⁶ her pack of social receipts and finding none of them made to meet this situation. Finally, Hawker said that he thought Hearts at War was a very good play.

 

"Did you?" she said in surprise. "I thought it much like the others."

 

"Well, so did I," he cried hastily—"the same figures moving around in the mud of modern confusion. I really didn't intend to say that I liked it. Fact is, meeting you rather moved me out of my mental track."

 

"Mental track?" she said. "I didn't know clever people had mental tracks. I thought it was a privilege of the theologians."

 

"Who told you I was clever?" he demanded.

 

"Why," she said, opening her eyes wider, "nobody."

 

Hawker smiled and looked upon her with gratitude⁷. "Of course, nobody. There couldn't be such an idiot. I am sure you should be astonished to learn that I believed such an imbecile existed. But——"

 

"Oh!" she said.

 

"But I think you might have spoken less bluntly."

 

"Well," she said, after wavering for a time, "you are clever, aren't you?"

 

"Certainly," he answered reassuringly⁸.

 

"Well, then?" she retorted, with triumph in her tone. And this interrogation was apparently⁹ to her the final victorious¹⁰ argument.

 

At his discomfiture¹¹ Hawker grinned.

 

"You haven't asked news of Stanley," he said. "Why don't you ask news of Stanley?"

 

"Oh! and how was he?"

 

"The last I saw of him he stood down at the end of the pasture—the pasture, you know—wagging his tail in blissful anticipation¹² of an invitation to come with me, and when it finally dawned upon him that he was not to receive it, he turned and went back toward the house 'like a man suddenly stricken with age,' as the story-tellers eloquently¹³ say. Poor old dog!"

 

"And you left him?" she said reproachfully. Then she asked, "Do you remember how he amused you playing with the ants at the falls?"

 

"No."

 

"Why, he did. He pawed at the moss¹⁴, and you sat there laughing. I remember it distinctly."

 

"You remember distinctly? Why, I thought—well, your back was turned, you know. Your gaze was fixed¹⁵ upon something before you, and you were utterly¹⁶ lost to the rest of the world. You could not have known if Stanley pawed the moss and I laughed. So, you see, you are mistaken. As a matter of fact, I utterly deny that Stanley pawed the moss or that I laughed, or that any ants appeared at the falls at all."

 

"I have always said that you should have been a Chinese soldier of fortune," she observed musingly¹⁷. "Your daring and ingenuity¹⁸ would be prized by the Chinese."

 

"There are innumerable tobacco jars in China," he said, measuring the advantages. "Moreover, there is no perspective. You don't have to walk two miles to see a friend. No. He is always there near you, so that you can't move a chair without hitting your distant friend. You——"

 

"Did Hollie remain as attentive¹⁹ as ever to the Worcester girls?"

 

"Yes, of course, as attentive as ever. He dragged me into all manner of tennis games——"

 

"Why, I thought you loved to play tennis?"

 

"Oh, well," said Hawker, "I did until you left."

 

"My sister has gone to the park with the children. I know she will be vexed²⁰ when she finds that you have called."

 

Ultimately Hawker said, "Do you remember our ride behind my father's oxen?"

 

"No," she answered; "I had forgotten it completely. Did we ride behind your father's oxen?"

 

After a moment he said: "That remark would be prized by the Chinese. We did. And you most graciously professed²¹ to enjoy it, which earned my deep gratitude and admiration²². For no one knows better than I," he added meekly²³, "that it is no great comfort or pleasure to ride behind my father's oxen."

 

She smiled retrospectively. "Do you remember how the people on the porch hurried to the railing?"

1 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 cascades   

倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西

参考例句：

• The river fell in a series of cascades down towards the lake. 河形成阶梯状瀑布泻入湖中。
• Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. 现在他朝着太阳驶去，开始了穿越喀斯喀特山脉的漫长而曲折的路程。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

3 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

4 impulsiveness   

n.冲动

参考例句：

• Advancing years had toned down his rash impulsiveness.上了年纪以后，他那鲁莽、容易冲动的性子好了一些。
• There was some emotional lability and impulsiveness during the testing.在测试过程中，患者容易冲动，情绪有时不稳定。

5 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

6 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

8 reassuringly   

ad.安心，可靠

参考例句：

• He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
• The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑，让人心里很踏实。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

11 discomfiture   

n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑

参考例句：

• I laughed my head off when I heard of his discomfiture. 听到别人说起他的狼狈相，我放声大笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Without experiencing discomfiture and setbacks,one can never find truth. 不经过失败和挫折，便找不到真理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

13 eloquently   

adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地)

参考例句：

• I was toasted by him most eloquently at the dinner. 进餐时他口若悬河地向我祝酒。
• The poet eloquently expresses the sense of lost innocence. 诗人动人地表达了失去天真的感觉。

14 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

16 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

17 musingly   

adv.沉思地，冥想地

参考例句：

18 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

19 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

20 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 professed   

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。

22 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

23 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》