The sight of the hotel flower-stall recessed6 on the left reminded G.J. of Christine's desire. Forty thousand skilled women had been put out of work in England because luxury was scared by the sudden vista7 of war, but the black-garbed girl, entrenched8 in her mahogany bower9, was still earning some sort of a livelihood10. In a moment, wakened out of her terrible boredom11 into an alert smile, she had sold to G.J. a bunch of expensive chrysanthemums12 whose yellow petals13 were like long curly locks. Thoughtless, he had meant to have the flowers delivered at once to Christine's flat. It would not do; it would be indiscreet. And somehow, in the absence of Braiding, it would be equally indiscreet to have them delivered at his own flat.
"I shall be leaving the hotel in about an hour; I'll take them away myself then," he said, and inquired for the headquarters of the Lechford French Hospitals Committee.
"Committee?" repeated the girl vaguely14. "I expect the Onyx Hall's what you want." She pointed15 up a corridor, and gave change.
G.J. discovered the Onyx Hall, which had its own entrance from the street, and which in other days had been a café lounge. The precious pavement was now half hidden by wooden trestles, wooden cubicles16, and cheap chairs. Temporary flexes17 brought down electric light from a stained glass dome18 to illuminate19 card-indexes and pigeon-holes and piles of letters. Notices in French and Flemish were suspended from the ornate onyx pilasters. Old countrywomen and children in rough foreign clothes, smart officers in strange uniforms, privates in shabby blue, gentlemen in morning coats and spats20, and untidy Englishwomen with eyes romantic, hard, or wistful, were mixed together in the Onyx Hall, where there was no enchantment21 and little order, save that good French seemed to be regularly spoken on one side of the trestles and regularly assassinated22 on the other. G.J., mystified, caught the grey eye of a youngish woman with a tired and fretful expression.
"And you?" she inquired perfunctorily.
He demanded, with hesitation23:
"Is this the Lechford Committee?"
"The what Committee?"
"The Lechford Committee headquarters." He thought she might be rather an attractive little thing at, say, an evening party.
"Can't you read?"
By means of gesture scarcely perceptible she directed his attention to an immense linen26 sign stretched across the back of the big room, and he saw that he was in the ant-heap of some Belgian Committee.
"So sorry to have troubled you!" he apologised. "I suppose you don't happen to know where the Lechford Committee sits?"
"Never heard of it," said she with cheerful disdain27. Then she smiled and he smiled. "You know, the hotel simply hums with committees, but this is the biggest by a long way. They can't let their rooms, so it costs them nothing to lend them for patriotic28 purposes."
He liked the chit.
Presently, with a page-boy, he was ascending29 in a lift through storey after storey of silent carpeted desert. Light alternated with darkness, winking30 like a succession of days and nights as seen by a god. The infant showed him into a private parlour furnished and decorated in almost precisely31 the same taste as Christine's sitting-room32, where a number of men and women sat close together at a long deal table, whose pale, classic simplicity33 clashed with the rest of the apartment. A thin, dark, middle-aged34 man of austere35 visage bowed to him from the head of the table. Somebody else indicated a chair, which, with a hideous36, noisy scraping over the bare floor, he modestly insinuated37 between two occupied chairs. A third person offered a typewritten sheet containing the agenda of the meeting. A blonde girl was reading in earnest, timid tones the minutes of the previous meeting. The affair had just begun. As soon as the minutes had been passed the austere chairman turned and said evenly:
"I am sure I am expressing the feelings of the committee in welcoming among us Mr. Hoape, who has so kindly38 consented to join us and give us the benefit of his help and advice in our labours."
Sympathetic murmurs39 converged40 upon G.J. from the four sides of the table, and G.J. nervously41 murmured a few incomprehensible words, feeling both foolish and pleased. He had never sat on a committee; and as his war-conscience troubled him more and more daily, he was extremely anxious to start work which might placate42 it. Indeed, he had seized upon the request to join the committee as a swimmer in difficulties clasps the gunwale of a dinghy.
"The matter is not in order, Mr. Chairman, but I am sure I am expressing the feelings of the committee in proposing a vote of condolence to yourself on the terrible loss which you have sustained in the death of your son at the Front."
"I beg to second that," said a lady quickly.
"Our chairman has given his only son—"
Tears came into her eyes; she seemed to appeal for help. There were "Hear, hears," and more sympathetic murmurs.
"I beg to put the resolution to the meeting."
"Yes," said the chairman with calm self-control in the course of his acknowledgment. "And if I had ten sons I would willingly give them all—for the cause." And his firm, hard glance appeared to challenge any member of the committee to assert that this profession of parental45 and patriotic generosity46 of heart was not utterly47 sincere. However, nobody had the air of doubting that if the chairman had had ten sons, or as many sons as Solomon, he would have sacrificed them all with the most admirable and eager heroism48.
The agenda was opened. G.J. had little but newspaper knowledge of the enterprises of the committee, and it would not have been proper to waste the time of so numerous a company in enlightening him. The common-sense custom evidently was that new members should "pick up the threads as they went along." G.J. honestly tried to do so. But he was preoccupied49 with the personalities50 of the committee. He soon saw that the whole body was effectively divided into two classes—the chairmen of the various sub-committees, and the rest. Few members were interested in any particular subject. Those who were not interested either stared at the walls or at the agenda paper, or laboriously51 drew intricate and meaningless designs on the agenda paper, or folded up the agenda paper into fantastic shapes until, when someone in authority brought out the formula, "I think the view of the committee will be—" a resolution was put and the issue settled by the mechanical raising of hands on the fulcrum52 of the elbow. And at each raising of hands everybody felt that something positive had indeed been accomplished53.
The new member was a little discouraged. He had the illusion that the two hospitals run in France for French soldiers by the Lechford Committee were an illusion, that they did not really exist, that the committee was discussing an abstraction. Nevertheless, each problem as it was presented—the drains (postponed), the repairs to the motor-ambulances, the ordering of a new X-ray apparatus54, the dilatoriness55 of a French Minister in dealing56 with correspondence, the cost per day per patient, the relations with the French civil authorities and the French military authorities, the appointment of a new matron who could keep the peace with the senior doctor, and the great principle involved in deducting57 five francs fifty centimes for excess luggage from a nurse's account for travelling expenses—each problem helped to demonstrate that the hospitals did exist and that men and women were toiling58 therein, and that French soldiers in grave need were being magnificently cared for and even saved from death. And it was plain, too, that none of these excellent things could have come to pass or could continue to occur if the committee did not regularly sit round the table and at short intervals59 perform the rite60 of raising hands....
G.J.'s attention wandered. He could not keep his mind off the thought that he should soon be seeing Christine again. Sitting at the table with a mien61 of intelligent interest, he had a waking dream of Christine. He saw her just as she was—ingenuous, and ignorant if you like—except that she was pure. Her purity, though, had not cooled her temperament62, and thus she combined in herself the characteristics of at least two different women, both of whom were necessary to his happiness. And she was his wife, and they lived in a roomy house in Hyde Park Gardens, and the war was over. And she adored him and he was passionately63 fond of her. And she was always having children; she enjoyed having children; she demanded children; she had a child every year and there was never any trouble. And he never admired her more poignantly64 than at the periods just before his children were born, when she had the vast, exquisitely65 swelling66 figure of the French Renaissance67 Virgin68 in marble that stood on a console in his drawing-room at the Albany.... Such was G.J.'s dream as he assisted in the control of the Lechford Hospitals. Emerging from it he looked along the table. Quite half the members were dreaming too, and he wondered what thoughts were moving secretly within them. But the chairman was not dreaming. He never loosed his grasp of the matter in hand. Nor did the earnest young blonde by the chairman's side who took down in stenography69 the decisions of the committee.
点击收听单词发音
1 ashtray | |
n.烟灰缸 | |
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2 stagnant | |
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的 | |
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3 meditating | |
a.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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4 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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5 enchanted | |
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6 recessed | |
v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 );将(墙)做成凹形,在(墙)上做壁龛;休息,休会,休庭 | |
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7 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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8 entrenched | |
adj.确立的,不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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9 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
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10 livelihood | |
n.生计,谋生之道 | |
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11 boredom | |
n.厌烦,厌倦,乏味,无聊 | |
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12 chrysanthemums | |
n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 ) | |
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13 petals | |
n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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14 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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15 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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16 cubicles | |
n.小卧室,斗室( cubicle的名词复数 ) | |
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17 flexes | |
v.屈曲( flex的第三人称单数 );弯曲;(为准备大干而)显示实力;摩拳擦掌 | |
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18 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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19 illuminate | |
vt.照亮,照明;用灯光装饰;说明,阐释 | |
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20 spats | |
n.口角( spat的名词复数 );小争吵;鞋罩;鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 );口角;小争吵;鞋罩 | |
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21 enchantment | |
n.迷惑,妖术,魅力 | |
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22 assassinated | |
v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 );中伤;诋毁;破坏 | |
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23 hesitation | |
n.犹豫,踌躇 | |
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24 sardonic | |
adj.嘲笑的,冷笑的,讥讽的 | |
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25 tolerance | |
n.宽容;容忍,忍受;耐药力;公差 | |
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26 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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27 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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28 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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29 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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30 winking | |
n.瞬眼,目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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31 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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32 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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33 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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34 middle-aged | |
adj.中年的 | |
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35 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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36 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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37 insinuated | |
v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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38 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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39 murmurs | |
n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 );低语声;怨言;嘀咕 | |
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40 converged | |
v.(线条、运动的物体等)会于一点( converge的过去式 );(趋于)相似或相同;人或车辆汇集;聚集 | |
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41 nervously | |
adv.神情激动地,不安地 | |
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42 placate | |
v.抚慰,平息(愤怒) | |
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43 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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44 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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45 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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46 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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47 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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48 heroism | |
n.大无畏精神,英勇 | |
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49 preoccupied | |
adj.全神贯注的,入神的;被抢先占有的;心事重重的v.占据(某人)思想,使对…全神贯注,使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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50 personalities | |
n. 诽谤,(对某人容貌、性格等所进行的)人身攻击; 人身攻击;人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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51 laboriously | |
adv.艰苦地;费力地;辛勤地;(文体等)佶屈聱牙地 | |
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52 fulcrum | |
n.杠杆支点 | |
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53 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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54 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
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55 dilatoriness | |
n.迟缓,拖延 | |
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56 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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57 deducting | |
v.扣除,减去( deduct的现在分词 ) | |
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58 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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59 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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60 rite | |
n.典礼,惯例,习俗 | |
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61 mien | |
n.风采;态度 | |
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62 temperament | |
n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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63 passionately | |
ad.热烈地,激烈地 | |
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64 poignantly | |
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65 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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66 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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67 renaissance | |
n.复活,复兴,文艺复兴 | |
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68 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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69 stenography | |
n.速记,速记法 | |
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