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CHAPTER V TOWN TALK
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 As long as idle dogs will bark, and idle asses1 bray2,
 
As long as hens will cackle over every egg they lay,
 
So long will folks be chattering3,
 
And idle tongues be clattering4,
 
For the less there is to talk about, the more there is to say.
 
The obituary5 notices of old Mr. Mottisfont which appeared in due course in the two local papers were of a glowingly appreciative6 nature, and at least as accurate as such notices usually are. David could not help thinking how much the old gentleman would have relished7 the fine phrases and the flowing periods. Sixty years of hard work were compressed into two and a half columns of palpitating journalese. David preferred the old man’s own version, which had fewer adjectives and a great deal more backbone8.
 
“My father left me nothing but debts—and William. The ironworks were in a bad way, and we were on the edge of a bankruptcy9. I was twenty-one, and William was fifteen, and every one shook their heads. I can see ’em now. Well, I gave some folk the rough side of my tongue, and some the smooth. I had to have money, and no one would lend. I got a little credit, but I couldn’t get the cash. Then I hunted up my father’s cousin, Edward Moberly. Rolling he was, and as close as wax. Bored to death too, for all his money. I talked to him, and he took to me. I talked to him for three days, and he lent me what I wanted, on my note of hand, and I paid it all back in five years, and the interest up-to-date right along. It took some doing but I got it done. Then the thing got a go on it, and we climbed right up. And folks stopped shaking their heads. I began to make my mark. I began to be a ‘respected fellow-citizen.’ Oh, Lord, David, if you’d known William you’d respect me too! Talk about the debts—as a handicap, they weren’t worth mentioning in the same breath with William. I could talk people into believing I was solvent10, but I couldn’t talk ’em into believing that William had any business capacity. And I couldn’t pay off William, same as I paid off the debts.”
 
David’s recollections plunged11 him suddenly into a gulf12 of black depression. Such a plucky13 old man, and now he was dead—out of the way—and he, David, had lent a hand to cover the matter over, and shield the murderer. David took the black fit to bed with him at night, and rose in the morning with the gloom upon him still. It became a shadow which went with him in all his ways, and clung about his every thought. And with the gloom there came upon him a horrible, haunting recurrence14 of his old passion for Mary. The wound made by her rejection15 of him had been slowly skinning over, but in the scene which they had shared, and the stress of the emotions raised by it, this wound had broken out afresh, and now it was no more a deep clean cut, but a festering thing that bid fair to poison all the springs of life. At Mary’s bidding he had violated a trust, and his own sense of honour. There were times when he hated Mary. There were times when he craved16 for her. And always his contempt for himself deepened, and with it the gloom—the black gloom.
 
“The doctor gets through a sight of whisky these days,” remarked Mrs. Havergill, David’s housekeeper17. “And a more abstemious18 gentleman, I’m sure I never did live with. Weeks a bottle of whisky ’ud last, unless he’d friends in. And now—gone like a flash, as you might say. Only, just you mind there’s not a word of this goes out of the ’ouse, Sarah, my girl. D’ ye hear?”
 
Sarah, a whey-faced girl whose arms and legs were set on at uncertain angles, only nodded. She adored David with the unreasoning affection of a dog, and had he taken to washing in whisky instead of merely drinking it, she would have regarded his doing so as quite a right and proper thing.
 
When the local papers had finished Mr. Mottisfont’s obituary notices and had lavished20 all their remaining stock of adjectives upon the funeral arrangements, they proceeded to interest themselves in the terms of his will. For once, old Mr. Mottisfont had done very much what was expected of him. Local charities benefited and old servants were remembered. Elizabeth Chantrey was left twenty-five thousand pounds, and everything else went to Edward. “To David Blake I leave my sincere respect, he having declined to receive a legacy21.”
 
David could almost see the old man grin as he wrote the words, could almost hear him chuckle22, “Very well, my highfalutin young man—into the pillory23 with you.”
 
 
The situation held a touch of sardonic24 humour beyond old Mr. Mottisfont’s contriving25, and the iron of it rusted26 into David’s soul. Market Harford discussed the terms of the will with great interest. They began to speculate as to what Elizabeth Chantrey would do. When it transpired27 that she was going to remain on in the old house and be joined there by Edward and Mary, there was quite a little buzz of talk.
 
“I assure you he made it a condition—a secret condition,” said old Mrs. Codrington in her deep booming voice. “I have it from Mary herself. He made it a condition.”
 
It was quite impossible to disbelieve a statement made with so much authority. Mrs. Codrington’s voice always stood her in good stead. It had a solidity which served to prop19 up any shaky fact. Miss Dobell, to whom she was speaking, sniffed28, and felt a little out of it. She had been Agatha Mottisfont’s great friend, and as such she felt that she herself should have been the fountainhead of information. As soon as Mrs. Codrington had departed Miss Hester Dobell put on her outdoor things and went to call upon Mary Mottisfont.
 
As it was a damp afternoon, she pinned up her skirts all round, and she was still unpinning them upon Mary’s doorstep, when the door opened.
 
“Miss Chantrey is with her sister? Oh, indeed! That is very nice, very nice indeed. And Mrs. Mottisfont is seeing visitors, you say? Yes? Then I will just walk in—just walk in.”
 
Miss Dobell came into the drawing-room with a little fluttered run. Her faded blue eyes were moist, but not so moist as to prevent her perceiving that Mary wore a black dress which did not become her, and that Elizabeth had on an old grey coat and skirt, with dark furs, and a close felt hat which almost hid her hair. She greeted Mary very affectionately and Elizabeth a shade less affectionately.
 
“I hope you are well, Mary, my dear? Yes? That is good. These sad times are very trying. And you, Elizabeth? I am pleased to find that you are able to be out. I feared you were indisposed. Every one was saying, ‘Miss Chantrey must be indisposed, as she was not at the funeral.’ And I feared it was the case.”
 
“No, thank you, I am quite well,” said Elizabeth.
 
Miss Dobell seated herself, smoothing down her skirt. It was of a very bright blue, and she wore with it a little fawn-coloured jacket adorned29 with a black and white braid, which was arranged upon it in loops and spirals. She had on also a blue tie, fastened in a bow at her throat, and an extremely oddly-shaped hat, from one side of which depended a somewhat battered30 bunch of purple grapes. Beneath this rather bacchanalian31 headgear her old, mild, straw-coloured face had all the effect of an anachronism.
 
“I am so glad to find you both. I am so glad to have the opportunity of explaining how it was that I did not attend the funeral. It was a great disappointment. Everything so impressive, by all accounts. Yes. But I could not have attended without proper mourning. No. Oh, no, it would have been impossible. Even though I was aware that poor dear Mr. Mottisfont entertained very singular ideas upon the subject of mourning, I know how much they grieved poor dear Agatha. They were very singular. I suppose, my dear Elizabeth, that it is in deference32 to poor Mr. Mottisfont’s wishes that you do not wear black. I said to every one at once—oh, at once—‘depend upon it poor Mr. Mottisfont must have expressed a wish. Otherwise Miss Chantrey would certainly wear mourning—oh, certainly. After living so long in the house, and being like a daughter to him, it would be only proper, only right and proper.’ That is what I said, and I am sure I was right. It was his wish, was it not?”
 
“He did not like to see people in black,” said Elizabeth.
 
“No,” said Miss Dobell in a flustered33 little voice. “Very strange, is it not? But then so many of poor Mr. Mottisfont’s ideas were very strange. I cannot help remembering how they used to grieve poor dear Agatha. And his views—so sad—so very sad. But there, we must not speak of them now that he is dead. No. Doubtless he knows better now. Oh, yes, we must hope so. I do not know what made me speak of it. I should not have done so. No, not now that he is dead! It was not right, or charitable. But I really only intended to explain how it came about that I was not at the funeral. It was a great deprivation34—a very great deprivation, but I was there in spirit—oh, yes, in spirit.”
 
The purple grapes nodded a little in sympathy with Miss Dobell’s nervous agitation35. She put up a little hand, clothed in a brown woollen glove, and steadied them.
 
“I often think,” she said, “that I should do well to purchase one black garment for such occasions as these. Now I should hardly have liked to come here to-day, dressed in colours, had I not been aware of poor dear Mr. Mottisfont’s views. It is awkward. Yes, oh, yes. But you see, my dear Mary, in my youth, being one of a very large family, we were so continually in mourning that I really hardly ever possessed36 any garment of a coloured nature. When I was only six years old I can remember that we were in mourning for my grandfather. In those days, my dears, little girls, wore, well, they wore—little—hem—white trousers, quite long, you know, reaching in fact to the ankle. Under a black frock it had quite a garish37 appearance. And my dear mother, who was very particular about all family observances, used to stitch black crape bands upon the trouser-legs. It was quite a work. Oh, yes, I assure you. Then after my grandfather, there was my great-uncle George, and on the other side of the family my great-aunt Eliza. And then there were my uncles, and two aunts, and quite a number of cousins. And, later on, my own dear brothers and sisters. So that, as you may say, we were never out of black at all, for our means were such that it was necessary to wear out one garment before another could be purchased. And I became a little weary of wearing black, my dears. So when my last dear sister died, I went into colours. Not at once, oh, no!”—Miss Dobell became very much shocked and agitated38 at the sound of her own words. “Oh, dear, no. Not, of course, until after a full and proper period of mourning, but when that was over I went into colours, and have never since possessed anything black. You see, as I have no more relations, it is unnecessary that I should be provided with mourning.”
 
65
Elizabeth Chantrey left her sister’s house in rather a saddened mood. She wondered if she too would ever be left derelict. Unmarried women were often very lonely. Life went past them down other channels. They missed their link with the generations to come, and as the new life sprang up it knew them not, and they had neither part nor lot in it. When she reached home she sat for a long while very still, forcing her consciousness into a realisation of Life as a thing unbroken, one, eternal. The peace of it came upon her, and the sadness passed.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 asses asses     
n. 驴,愚蠢的人,臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人
参考例句:
  • Sometimes I got to kick asses to make this place run right. 有时我为了把这个地方搞得像个样子,也不得不踢踢别人的屁股。 来自教父部分
  • Those were wild asses maybe, or zebras flying around in herds. 那些也许是野驴或斑马在成群地奔跑。
2 bray hnRyv     
n.驴叫声, 喇叭声;v.驴叫
参考例句:
  • She cut him off with a wild bray of laughter.她用刺耳的狂笑打断了他的讲话。
  • The donkey brayed and tried to bolt.这头驴嘶叫着试图脱缰而逃。
3 chattering chattering     
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
  • I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。
4 clattering f876829075e287eeb8e4dc1cb4972cc5     
发出咔哒声(clatter的现在分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Typewriters keep clattering away. 打字机在不停地嗒嗒作响。
  • The typewriter was clattering away. 打字机啪嗒啪嗒地响着。
5 obituary mvvy9     
n.讣告,死亡公告;adj.死亡的
参考例句:
  • The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
  • Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后,他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。
6 appreciative 9vDzr     
adj.有鉴赏力的,有眼力的;感激的
参考例句:
  • She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
  • We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。
7 relished c700682884b4734d455673bc9e66a90c     
v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 );从…获得乐趣;渴望
参考例句:
  • The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静,与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
  • Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句
8 backbone ty0z9B     
n.脊骨,脊柱,骨干;刚毅,骨气
参考例句:
  • The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
  • The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。
9 bankruptcy fPoyJ     
n.破产;无偿付能力
参考例句:
  • You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产,就必须节省开支。
  • His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。
10 solvent RFqz9     
n.溶剂;adj.有偿付能力的
参考例句:
  • Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
  • A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。
11 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
12 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
13 plucky RBOyw     
adj.勇敢的
参考例句:
  • The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors by hanging on to life for nearly two months.这名勇敢的女生坚持不放弃生命近两个月的精神令医生感到震惊。
  • This story featured a plucky heroine.这个故事描述了一个勇敢的女英雄。
14 recurrence ckazKP     
n.复发,反复,重现
参考例句:
  • More care in the future will prevent recurrence of the mistake.将来的小心可防止错误的重现。
  • He was aware of the possibility of a recurrence of his illness.他知道他的病有可能复发。
15 rejection FVpxp     
n.拒绝,被拒,抛弃,被弃
参考例句:
  • He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
  • The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。
16 craved e690825cc0ddd1a25d222b7a89ee7595     
渴望,热望( crave的过去式 ); 恳求,请求
参考例句:
  • She has always craved excitement. 她总渴望刺激。
  • A spicy, sharp-tasting radish was exactly what her stomach craved. 她正馋着想吃一个香甜可口的红萝卜呢。
17 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
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。
18 abstemious 7fVyg     
adj.有节制的,节俭的
参考例句:
  • He is abstemious in eating and drinking.他在饮食方面是很有节制的。
  • Mr.Hall was naturally an abstemious man indifferent to luxury.霍尔先生天生是个饮食有度,不爱奢侈的人。
19 prop qR2xi     
vt.支撑;n.支柱,支撑物;支持者,靠山
参考例句:
  • A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
  • The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。
20 lavished 7f4bc01b9202629a8b4f2f96ba3c61a8     
v.过分给予,滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I lavished all the warmth of my pent-up passion. 我把憋在心里那一股热烈的情感尽量地倾吐出来。 来自辞典例句
  • An enormous amount of attention has been lavished on these problems. 在这些问题上,我们已经花费了大量的注意力。 来自辞典例句
21 legacy 59YzD     
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
参考例句:
  • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
  • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。
22 chuckle Tr1zZ     
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑
参考例句:
  • He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
  • I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个,我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。
23 pillory J2xze     
n.嘲弄;v.使受公众嘲笑;将…示众
参考例句:
  • A man has been forced to resign as a result of being pilloried by some of the press.一人因为受到一些媒体的抨击已被迫辞职。
  • He was pilloried,but she escaped without blemish.他受到公众的批评,她却名声未损地得以逃脱。
24 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。
25 contriving 104341ff394294c813643a9fe96a99cb     
(不顾困难地)促成某事( contrive的现在分词 ); 巧妙地策划,精巧地制造(如机器); 设法做到
参考例句:
  • Why may not several Deities combine in contriving and framing a world? 为什么不可能是数个神联合起来,设计和构造世界呢? 来自哲学部分
  • The notorious drug-pusher has been contriving an escape from the prison. 臭名昭著的大毒枭一直都在图谋越狱。
26 rusted 79e453270dbdbb2c5fc11d284e95ff6e     
v.(使)生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝,它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了,需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 transpired eb74de9fe1bf6f220d412ce7c111e413     
(事实,秘密等)被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 ); 泄露; 显露; 发生
参考例句:
  • It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
  • It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话,这在后来显露出来了。
28 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
29 adorned 1e50de930eb057fcf0ac85ca485114c8     
[计]被修饰的
参考例句:
  • The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
  • And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。
30 battered NyezEM     
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
参考例句:
  • He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
  • The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
31 bacchanalian pP3yf     
adj.闹酒狂饮的;n.发酒疯的人
参考例句:
  • Emperor nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.尼禄皇参加了狂饮的祭酒神仪式。
  • College-admissions deans and potential employers browse bacchanalian footage.高校招生处主任和潜在的雇主会浏览到发酒疯的画面。
32 deference mmKzz     
n.尊重,顺从;敬意
参考例句:
  • Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗?
  • The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。
33 flustered b7071533c424b7fbe8eb745856b8c537     
adj.慌张的;激动不安的v.使慌乱,使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句:
  • The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了,都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句
34 deprivation e9Uy7     
n.匮乏;丧失;夺去,贫困
参考例句:
  • Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
  • Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。
35 agitation TN0zi     
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动
参考例句:
  • Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
  • These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。
36 possessed xuyyQ     
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。
37 garish mfyzK     
adj.华丽而俗气的,华而不实的
参考例句:
  • This colour is bright but not garish.这颜色艳而不俗。
  • They climbed the garish purple-carpeted stairs.他们登上铺着俗艳的紫色地毯的楼梯。
38 agitated dzgzc2     
adj.被鼓动的,不安的
参考例句:
  • His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定,回答全乱了。
  • She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时,她十分焦虑。


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