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Chapter 29 Chinese Cheap Labor
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 Though Dewey had received from the miners a promise that they would not interfere1 with Ki Sing in case he gained a victory over O'Reilly, he was not willing to trust entirely2 to it. He feared that some one would take it into his head to play a trick on the unoffending Chinaman, and that the others unthinkingly would join in. Accordingly, he thought it best to keep the Mongolian under his personal charge as long as he remained in camp.

 
Ki Sing followed him to his tent as a child follows a guardian3.
 
'Are you hungry, Ki Sing?' asked Dewey.
 
'Plenty hungly.'
 
'Then I will first satisfy your appetite,' and Dewey brought forth4 some of his stock of provisions, to which Ki Sing did ample justice, though neither rat pie nor rice was included.
 
When the lunch, in which Richard Dewey joined, was over, he said: 'If you will help me for the rest of the day, I will pay you whatever I consider your services to be worth.'
 
'All lightee!' responded Ki Sing, with alacrity5.
 
Whatever objections may be made to the Chinaman, he cannot be charged with laziness. As a class they are willing to labor6 faithfully, even where the compensation is small. Labor in China, which is densely7 peopled, is a matter of general and imperative8 necessity, and has been so for centuries, and habit has probably had a good deal to do with the national spirit of industry.
 
Ki Sing, under Richard Dewey's directions, worked hard, and richly earned the two dollars which his employer gave him at the end of the day.
 
Of course Dewey's action did not escape the attention of his fellow miners. It cannot be said that they regarded it with favor. The one most offended was naturally O'Reilly, who, despite the pounding he had received, was about the camp as usual.
 
'Boys,' he said, 'are you goin' to have that haythen workin' alongside you?'
 
'It won't do us any harm, will it?' asked Dick Roberts. 'If Dewey chooses to hire him, what is it to us?'
 
'I ain't goin' to demane myself by workin' wid a yeller haythen.'
 
'Nobody has asked you to do it. If anybody is demeaning himself it is Dick Dewey, and he has a right to if he wants to.'
 
'If he wants to hire anybody, let him hire a dacent Christian9.'
 
'Like you, O'Reilly?'
 
'I don't want to work for anybody. I work for myself. This Chinaman has come here to take the bread out of our mouths, bad cess to him.'
 
'I don't see that. He is workin' Dick Dewey's claim. I don't see how that interferes10 with us.'
 
Of course, this was the reasonable view of the matter; but there were some who sided with the Irishman, among others the Kentuckian, and he volunteered to go as a committee of one to Dewey, and represent to him the sentiments of the camp.
 
Accordingly he walked over to where Dewey and his apprentice11 were working.
 
'Look here, Dewey,' he began, 'me and some of the rest of the boys have takin' over this yere matter of your givin' work to this Chinaman, and we don't like it.'
 
'Why not?' asked Dewey coolly.
 
'We don't feel no call to associate with sich as he.'
 
'You needn't; I don't ask you to,' said Dewey quietly. 'I am the only one who associates with him.'
 
'But we don't want him in camp.'
 
'He won't trouble any of you. I will take charge of him.'
 
'Look here, Dewey, you've got to respect public sentiment, and public sentiment is agin' this thing.'
 
'Whose public sentiment--O'Reilly's?'
 
'Well, O'Reilly don't like it, for one.'
 
'I thought so.'
 
'Nor I for another.'
 
'It strikes me, Hodgson, that I've got some rights as well as O'Reilly. Suppose I should say I didn't choose to work in the same camp with an Irishman?'
 
'That's different.'
 
'Why is it different?'
 
'Well, you see, an Irishman isn't a yeller heathen.'
 
Dewey laughed.
 
'He may be a heathen, though not a yellow one,' he said.
 
'Well, Dewey, what answer shall I take back to the boys?'
 
'You can say that I never intended to employ the Chinaman for any length of time; but I shall not send him off till I get ready.'
 
'I'm afraid the boys won't like it, Dewey.'
 
'Probably O'Reilly won't. As for you, you are too intelligent a man to be influenced by such a man as he.'
 
All men are sensible to flattery, and Hodgson was won over by this politic12 speech.
 
'I won't say you're altogether wrong, Dewey,' he said; 'but I wouldn't keep him too long.'
 
'I don't mean to.'
 
Hodgson returning reported that Dewey would soon dismiss the Chinaman, and omitted the independent tone which the latter had assumed. The message was considered conciliatory, and pronounced satisfactory; but O'Reilly was not appeased13. He still murmured, but his words produced little effect. Seeing this, he devised a private scheme of annoyance14

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1 interfere b5lx0     
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰
参考例句:
  • If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话,可能弊多利少。
  • When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件,棘手的事情就来了。
2 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
3 guardian 8ekxv     
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
参考例句:
  • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
  • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
4 forth Hzdz2     
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。
5 alacrity MfFyL     
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意
参考例句:
  • Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老,动作仍很敏捷。
  • He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。
6 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
7 densely rutzrg     
ad.密集地;浓厚地
参考例句:
  • A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
  • We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。
8 imperative BcdzC     
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的
参考例句:
  • He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
  • The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。
9 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
10 interferes ab8163b252fe52454ada963fa857f890     
vi. 妨碍,冲突,干涉
参考例句:
  • The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
  • That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。
11 apprentice 0vFzq     
n.学徒,徒弟
参考例句:
  • My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
  • The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。
12 politic L23zX     
adj.有智虑的;精明的;v.从政
参考例句:
  • He was too politic to quarrel with so important a personage.他很聪明,不会与这么重要的人争吵。
  • The politic man tried not to offend people.那个精明的人尽量不得罪人。
13 appeased ef7dfbbdb157a2a29b5b2f039a3b80d6     
安抚,抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 ); 绥靖(满足另一国的要求以避免战争)
参考例句:
  • His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。
  • They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。
14 annoyance Bw4zE     
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼
参考例句:
  • Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气?
  • I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。


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