Chapter 20 Entering Upon His Duties

 When Ben had taken out his clothing from his valise and put it away in the drawers of the handsome bureau which formed a part of the furniture of his room, he went downstairs, and found his patroness in a cozy¹ sitting room, on the second floor. It was furnished, Ben could not help thinking, more as if it were designed for a gentleman than a lady. In one corner was a library table, with writing materials, books, and papers upon it, and an array of drawers on either side of the central part.

 

"Come right in, Ben," said Mrs. Hamilton, who was seated at the table. "We will talk of business."

 

This Ben was quite willing to do. He was anxious to know what were to be his duties, that he might judge whether he was competent to discharge them.

 

"Let me tell you, to begin with," said his patroness, "that I am possessed² of considerable wealth, as, indeed, you may have judged by way of living. I have no children, unfortunately, and being unwilling³, selfishly, to devote my entire means to my own use exclusively, I try to help others in a way that I think most suitable. Mrs. Hill, who acts as my housekeeper⁴, is a cousin, who made a poor marriage, and was left penniless. I have given a home to her and her son."

 

"I don't think Mrs. Hill likes my being here," said Ben.

 

"You are, no doubt, right. She is foolish enough to be jealous because I do not bestow⁵ all my favors upon her."

 

"I think she will look upon me as a rival of her son."

 

"I expected she would. Perhaps she will learn, after a while, that I can be a friend to you and him both, though, I am free to admit, I have never been able to take any fancy to Conrad, nor, indeed, was his mother a favorite with me. But for her needy⁶ circumstances, she is, perhaps, the last of my relatives that I would invite to become a member of my household. However, to come to business: My money is invested in various ways. Besides the ordinary forms of investment, stocks, bonds, and mortgages, I have set up two or three young men, whom I thought worthy⁷, in business, and require them to send in monthly statements of their business to me. You see, therefore, that I have more or less to do with accounts. I never had much taste for figures, and it struck me that I might relieve myself of considerable drudgery⁸ if I could obtain your assistance, under my supervision⁹, of course. I hope you have a taste for figures?"

 

"Arithmetic and algebra¹⁰ are my favorite studies," said Ben promptly¹¹.

 

"I am glad of it. Of course, I did not know that, but had you not been well versed¹² in accounts, I meant to send you to a commercial school to qualify you for the duties I wished to impose upon you."

 

"I don't think it will be necessary," answered Ben. "I have taken lessons in bookkeeping at home, and, though it seems like boasting, I was better in mathematics than any of my schoolfellows."

 

"I am so glad to hear that. Can you write well?"

 

"Shall I write something for you?"

 

"Do so."

 

Mrs. Hamilton vacated her place, and Ben, sitting at the desk, wrote two or three copies from remembrance.

 

"Very well, indeed!" said his patroness approvingly. "I see that in engaging you I have made no mistake."

 

Ben's cheek flushed with pleasure, and he was eager to enter upon his new duties. But he could not help wondering why he had been selected when Conrad was already in the house, and unemployed¹³. He ventured to say:

 

"Would you mind telling me why you did not employ Conrad, instead of sending for me?"

 

"There are two good and sufficient reasons: Conrad is not competent for such an office; and secondly¹⁴, I should not like to have the boy about me as much as he would need to be. I have obtained for him a position out of the house. One question remains¹⁵ to be considered: How much wages do you expect?"

 

"I would prefer to leave that to you, Mrs. Hamilton. I cannot expect high pay."

 

"Will ten dollars a week be adequate?"

 

"I can't earn as much money as that," said Ben, in surprise.

 

"Perhaps not, and yet I am not sure. If you suit me, it will be worth my while to pay you as much."

 

"But Conrad will only receive four dollars a week. Won't he be angry?"

 

"Conrad is not called upon to support his mother, as I understand you are."

 

"You are very kind to think of that, Mrs. Hamilton."

 

"I want to be kind to you, Ben," said his patroness with a pleasant smile.

 

"When shall I commence my duties?"

 

"Now. You will copy this statement into the ledger¹⁶ you see here. Before doing so, will you look over and verify the figures?"

 

Ben was soon hard at work. He was interested in his work, and the time slipped fast. After an hour and a half had passed, Mrs. Hamilton said:

 

"It is about time for lunch, and I think there will be no more to do to-day. Are you familiar with New York?"

 

"No, I have spent very little time in the city."

 

"You will, no doubt, like to look about. We have dinner at six sharp. You will be on tine?"

 

"I will be sure to be here."

 

"That reminds me--have you a watch?"

 

Ben shook his head.

 

"I thought it might be so. I have a good silver watch, which I have no occasion for."

 

Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and quickly returned with a neat silver hunting-case watch, with a guilt¹⁷ chain.

 

"This is yours, Ben," she said, "if you like it."

 

"Do you give it to me?" asked Ben joyously¹⁸. He had only expected that it would be loaned to him.

 

"Yes, I give it to you, and I hope you will find it useful."

 

"How can I thank you, Mrs. Hamilton, for your kindness?"

 

"You are more grateful than Conrad. I gave him one just like it, and he was evidently dissatisfied became it was not gold. When you are older the gold watch may come."

 

"I am very well pleased with the silver watch, for I have long wanted one, but did not see any way of obtaining it."

 

"You are wise in having moderate desires, Ben. But there goes the lunch bell. You may want to wash your hands. When you have done so come down to the dining room, in the rear of the sitting room."

 

Mrs. Hill and Conrad were already seated at the table when Ben descended¹⁹.

 

"Take a seat opposite Conrad, Ben," said Mrs. Hamilton, who was sitting at one end of the table.

 

The lunch was plain but substantial, and Ben, who had taken an early breakfast, enjoyed it.

 

"I suppose we shall not have Conrad at lunch to-morrow?" said Mrs. Hamilton. "He will be at the store."

 

Conrad made a grimace²⁰. He world have enjoyed his freedom better.

 

"I won't have much of my four dollars left if I have to pay for lunch," he said in a surly tone.

 

"You shall have a reasonable allowance for that purpose."

 

"I suppose Mr. Barclay will lunch at home," said Mrs. Hill.

 

"Certainly, since his work will be here. He is to be my home clerk, and will keep my accounts."

 

"You needn't have gone out of the house for a clerk, Cousin Hamilton. I am sure Conrad would have been glad of the work."

 

"It will be better for Conrad to learn business in a larger establishment," said Mrs. Hamilton quietly.

 

This was a new way of looking at it, and helped to reconcile Mrs. Hill to an arrangement which at first had disappointed her.

 

"Have you any engagements this afternoon, Conrad?" asked Mrs. Hamilton. "Ben will have nothing to do, and you could show him the city."

 

"I've got an engagement with a fellow," said Conrad hastily.

 

"I can find my way about alone, thank you," said Ben. "I won't trouble Conrad."

 

"Very well. This evening, however, Ben, I think you may enjoy going to the theater. Conrad can accompany you, unless he has another engagement."

 

"I'll go with him," said Conrad, more graciously, for he was fond of amusements.

 

"Then we will all meet at dinner, and you two young gentlemen can leave in good time for the theater." 

1 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

2 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

5 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

6 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

7 worthy   

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。

8 drudgery   

n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作

参考例句：

• People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
• He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。

9 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

10 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

11 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

12 versed   

adj. 精通，熟练

参考例句：

• He is well versed in history.他精通历史。
• He versed himself in European literature. 他精通欧洲文学。

13 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

14 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

17 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

18 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

19 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。

20 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。