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首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Admirable Tinker » CHAPTER FIFTEEN TINKER ASSERTS THE RIGHTS OF THE EMPLOYER
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN TINKER ASSERTS THE RIGHTS OF THE EMPLOYER
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 Septimus Rainer was very soon admitted to the frankest intimacy1 of the little circle. An American of the best type, he had enjoyed the advantage in his childhood of the stern and hardening training of life on a little farm, and the supreme2 advantage of a good mother. He had fought his way to fortune with clean hands, winning always his battles by sheer superiority of brain, never by laxity of principle; no man could lay to his charge that he had dealt him a foul3 blow. He had come, therefore, through that demoralising fight with a clean heart, his native shrewdness increased a thousand-fold, his native simplicity4 unabated. It was this combination of shrewdness and simplicity which had caused him to send Dorothy, bitter as it had been to part with her, to Europe to finish her education. His gorge5 had risen at the intolerable snobbishness6 which is corroding7 the wealthy sections of American society; he had made up his mind that she had a better chance of obtaining the necessary social acquirements, while remaining a gentlewoman, in Europe; and had acted with great success on the conviction.
 
After a few days' natural restlessness he found himself developing an admirable capacity, very rare in millionaires, of being for a while idle. This agreeable circumstance was the natural effect of the surroundings in which he found himself; not so much of the place, for at Monte Carlo pleasure is a somewhat strenuous8 affair, but of the fact that his new friends had a trained power of taking life easily. Tinker, Sir Tancred, and Lord Crosland would have admitted him to their intimacy for the sake of Dorothy; but simple souls themselves, they recognised in him a kindred simplicity, and admitted him to their friendship. He possessed9, to a great degree, the American adaptability10; and it is not surprising that he fell into their way of taking life easily. It was only for the time being. The millionaire is a good deal of the Sindbad, and he must bear the burden and go the way of the golden Old Man of the Sea he has made for himself. But Septimus Rainer enjoyed this respite11 from the tyranny of his millions with the whole-hearted pleasure of a child. He enjoyed the brightness and glitter of the place; he enjoyed the pleasant meals and pleasant talks with pleasant companions; he enjoyed a little gambling12 at the tables; and he enjoyed with a childlike zest13 playing with Dorothy and the children, displaying latent and unsuspected talents for piracy14, brigandage15, and conspiracy16, which were no less a glory than a surprise to him. Indeed, at times he was very like a young schoolboy let loose after many hours' school.
 
Tinker was of perpetual interest to him, and he listened with greedy ears to the wisdom of the world of that sage17, on the rare occasions when some matter or other set it flowing from his lips. On the other hand, he found in him an absorbed listener to the stories of his less involved financial battles, and spared no pains to make them clear to him. Sir Tancred interested him little less, and he was always deploring18 the loss the splendid army of millionaires had suffered by his excellent abilities not having been forced to flow in a business channel.
 
He was distressed19, too, about the waste of Tinker, and adjured20 his father to hand him over to him to be made a millionaire of.
 
But Sir Tancred turned a deaf ear to his petition, and said, "Of course, if Tinker went into business he would become a millionaire. And it's a fashionable occupation, and I've nothing to say against it. But over here, with some of us, there are still other things besides money—not that there will be long—and for my part I shall be content if he grows up a gentleman, as he will. Business might spoil that; and at any rate I won't chance it. And, after all, my step-mother won't live to much more than eighty, so that he will have thirty thousand a year before he's forty-five."
 
"That's a hundred and fifty thousand dollars," said Septimus Rainer thoughtfully, and he pressed the point no more.
 
He was far too shrewd not to perceive the attraction Sir Tancred and Dorothy had for one another, and he regarded it with entire content. Whatever he might have said against Sir Tancred's manner of life, he had a genuine respect for his qualities; and he had learned from Dorothy something of the causes of his falling into that manner of life. He had a strong belief that once married to her he would change; he thought it likely that he might even embark21 on the career of politics, which he understood to be, in England, a quite respectable pursuit. He was aware, of course, that he could easily buy her an English peer or a foreign Prince for husband. But Sir Tancred's rank and birth satisfied his simple tastes; and he was quite sure that he might ransack22 the English peerage and the Courts of Europe without finding her as good a husband. He did not perceive that his millions barred Sir Tancred's path.
 
Dorothy perceived it only too soon. She found the growth of her intimacy with Sir Tancred checked; it did not lessen23, indeed, but it did not increase. A shadow had fallen across it, and he no longer talked to her in the tone of half-affectionate familiarity he had grown to use with her, he was more reserved. She chafed24 at it, but she was not greatly downcast; she only wished that the kidnappers25 had had the grace to leave her in her part of the penniless governess, a few weeks longer. She felt that, then, all the millions in the world would not have barred Sir Tancred's way. Indeed, she had no reason to be greatly downcast. This sudden setting of her out of his reach had inevitably26 increased her attraction for Sir Tancred; it had deepened his liking27 to a far stronger feeling. He cursed the unkindly Fates, and told himself that his only course was to fly; that the more he saw of her, the more painful would that flight be. But he could by no means constrain28 himself to forego the delight of her presence; and, though he never let a word of his love escape his lips, his eyes and the tones of his voice told her of it often enough.
 
Tinker was not long providing Septimus Rainer with a carefully chosen English valet, whom he found a pleasant, unassuming fellow, very easy to get on with. Then the millionaire began to talk of engaging a secretary, for his millions were beginning to make themselves troublesome; and he begged Tinker, since he had found him so unembarrassing a valet, to keep his eyes about him for a secretary also; but Tinker said that Monte Carlo was no place to find secretaries who understood business.
 
One morning he saw Madame Séraphine de Belle-Île drive up to the hotel. She wore a mournful air; and he perceived at once that she was no longer clad in a bright scarlet29 costume, but in one of a dull crimson30, more in keeping with her air of mournfulness. She cut him deliberately31 as she passed into the hotel.
 
He was exceedingly angry; no human being had ever cut him before, and he flushed with mortification32. He walked down to the gardens pondering the affront33; and his anger grew. Then of a sudden it flashed on him that she had found out Mr. Arthur Courtnay, and that the warning he had given her had had something to do with that discovery. She had cut him by way of showing her gratitude34 in a truly womanly fashion. With the smile of an angel indulgent to human frailty35 he forgave her, and thrust the matter out of his mind.
 
That night at dinner, or rather at dessert, Lord Crosland informed them that he was engaged to Claire Wigram; and when they had done congratulating him, he told them that in a few days he would be leaving for England with the Wigrams.
 
"Well," said Sir Tancred, "the season here is coming to an end; and, at any rate, the weather for the last few days has been too hot to do these children any good. I think we will move northward36, too."
 
"It will be the break-up of a very pleasant party," said Septimus Rainer with a sigh, and Dorothy's face fell.
 
"Why should it break up?" said Lord Crosland. "You'd better all come."
 
"No; I'm not coming to England, yet," said Sir Tancred. "After all this heat it would be too great a risk to face straight away the bitter English summer. I thought of moving northward gently to Biarritz, or I have a fancy for Arcachon. Wednesday would be as good a day as any."
 
There was a pause; then Tinker said thoughtfully, "Wednesday is rather soon, sir." And, turning to Dorothy, he said, "Do you think that you could pack by Wednesday? Of course, it doesn't really matter, for you could come on after us; but I don't want Elsie to lose a day's work."
 
Septimus Rainer, Sir Tancred, and Lord Crosland looked a little taken aback; it struck them all three with the same sense of oddness that a small boy should direct the movements of the daughter of a millionaire.
 
"Oh, I can easily pack up by Wednesday," said Dorothy, as if it were a matter of course that he should direct her movements.
 
"That's all right," said Tinker.
 
"But I don't understand," said Septimus Rainer. "Has Dorothy bound herself to do as you tell her?"
 
"Well, I suppose she has, as far as teaching Elsie goes. And I explained when she took the post that we travelled about a good deal," said Tinker carelessly.
 
"But I can't have this," said Septimus Rainer.
 
"Well, she can always give me a month's notice, and then the engagement ends," said Tinker. He was prepared for the discussion, and resolved that his father and Dorothy should not be separated as long as he could prevent it.
 
"Do you mean she isn't free for a month from now? But—but it's absurd!" said Septimus Rainer.
 
"That's what the papers call the rights of the employer," said Tinker with a singularly sad sweetness.
 
"Oh, you wouldn't insist on that right, not if you were asked nicely, would you?" said Lord Crosland.
 
"Oh, yes, I should!" said Tinker cheerfully. "You see, I'm responsible for Elsie, and she will never get such a good governess as Dorothy again. So she must have as much of her as possible."
 
"Thank you; it's nice to be appreciated," said Dorothy, smiling at him.
 
"Ah," said Septimus Rainer with the air of one who has found a solution of the problem, "but Dorothy can always forfeit37 a month's salary in lieu of notice."
 
"Oh, I couldn't think of it, papa!" cried Dorothy. "I should lose—I should lose five pounds!"
 
"This beats the Dutch! This is avarice38! I allow you four thousand dollars a month!" said Septimus Rainer.
 
"Ah, but this is my own earned money!" Dorothy protested, flushing and smiling.
 
Suddenly there came a twinkle into Septimus Rainer's eye. "Well," he said, "if you're ground down under the heel of a grasping employer, you're ground down, and you must go to Arcachon. But I shall come, too."
 
"Of course," said Tinker. "You're—you're one of the family."
 
"Thank you," said Septimus Rainer. "I'm told that you English are slow about it. But when you make a man at home, you do make him at home. And I've always wanted to be adopted."
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 intimacy z4Vxx     
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行
参考例句:
  • His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切,这有点言过其实。
  • I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。
2 supreme PHqzc     
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
参考例句:
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
3 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
4 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
5 gorge Zf1xm     
n.咽喉,胃,暴食,山峡;v.塞饱,狼吞虎咽地吃
参考例句:
  • East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
  • It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。
6 snobbishness 44e90be71d39bfab1ac131bd100f59fb     
势利; 势利眼
参考例句:
  • We disdain a man for his snobbishness. 我们鄙夷势利小人。
  • Maybe you have social faults such as snobbishness, talkativeness, and, etc. which drive away new acquaintances. 也许你有社交方面的缺点,诸如势利、饶舌、出语粗俗等,使你的新相识退避三舍。
7 corroding 81181f26793e525ddb60be5a5847af9e     
使腐蚀,侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • That sour nature has started corroding those metal parts. 那酸质已开始腐蚀那金属部件。
  • He was driven by a corroding rage for "perfection". 他受追求“完美境界”的极端热情所驱策。
8 strenuous 8GvzN     
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的
参考例句:
  • He made strenuous efforts to improve his reading. 他奋发努力提高阅读能力。
  • You may run yourself down in this strenuous week.你可能会在这紧张的一周透支掉自己。
9 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。
10 adaptability 6J9yH     
n.适应性
参考例句:
  • It has a wide range of adaptability.它的应用性广。
11 respite BWaxa     
n.休息,中止,暂缓
参考例句:
  • She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
  • Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。
12 gambling ch4xH     
n.赌博;投机
参考例句:
  • They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
  • The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。
13 zest vMizT     
n.乐趣;滋味,风味;兴趣
参考例句:
  • He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
  • He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。
14 piracy 9N3xO     
n.海盗行为,剽窃,著作权侵害
参考例句:
  • The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
  • They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。
15 brigandage 7d153e313dec6b86101e1d8ce792097a     
n.抢劫;盗窃;土匪;强盗
参考例句:
  • Charity asas brigandage. Charity is really as unfair to the recipient as the donor. 施舍和掠夺一样可恶,对捐献者和接受者都有失公平。 来自互联网
16 conspiracy NpczE     
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋
参考例句:
  • The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
  • He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。
17 sage sCUz2     
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的
参考例句:
  • I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
  • The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。
18 deploring 626edc75f67b2310ef3eee7694915839     
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的现在分词 )
参考例句:
19 distressed du1z3y     
痛苦的
参考例句:
  • He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑,无法回答他们的问题。
  • The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。
20 adjured 54d0111fc852e2afe5e05a3caf8222af     
v.(以起誓或诅咒等形式)命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 );祈求;恳求
参考例句:
  • He adjured them to tell the truth. 他要求他们讲真话。
  • The guides now adjured us to keep the strictest silence. 这时向导恳求我们保持绝对寂静。 来自辞典例句
21 embark qZKzC     
vi.乘船,着手,从事,上飞机
参考例句:
  • He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
  • Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。
22 ransack fALzi     
v.彻底搜索,洗劫
参考例句:
  • He began to ransack his mother's workbox for a piece of thread.他要找一根线,开始翻腾妈妈的针线盒。
  • She ransack my apartment for the bankbook.她在我公寓里到处搜索寻找存折。
23 lessen 01gx4     
vt.减少,减轻;缩小
参考例句:
  • Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
  • They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。
24 chafed f9adc83cf3cbb1d83206e36eae090f1f     
v.擦热(尤指皮肤)( chafe的过去式 );擦痛;发怒;惹怒
参考例句:
  • Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. 她的手腕上绳子勒过的地方都磨红了。
  • She chafed her cold hands. 她揉搓冰冷的双手使之暖和。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
25 kidnappers cce17449190af84dbf37efcfeaf5f600     
n.拐子,绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了,没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙,他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》
26 inevitably x7axc     
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地
参考例句:
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去,毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。
27 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
28 constrain xpCzL     
vt.限制,约束;克制,抑制
参考例句:
  • She tried to constrain herself from a cough in class.上课时她竭力忍住不咳嗽。
  • The study will examine the factors which constrain local economic growth.这项研究将考查抑制当地经济发展的因素。
29 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
30 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
31 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地
参考例句:
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
32 mortification mwIyN     
n.耻辱,屈辱
参考例句:
  • To my mortification, my manuscript was rejected. 使我感到失面子的是:我的稿件被退了回来。
  • The chairman tried to disguise his mortification. 主席试图掩饰自己的窘迫。
33 affront pKvy6     
n./v.侮辱,触怒
参考例句:
  • Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
  • This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。
34 gratitude p6wyS     
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。
35 frailty 468ym     
n.脆弱;意志薄弱
参考例句:
  • Despite increasing physical frailty,he continued to write stories.尽管身体越来越虛弱,他仍然继续写小说。
  • He paused and suddenly all the frailty and fatigue showed.他顿住了,虚弱与疲惫一下子显露出来。
36 northward YHexe     
adv.向北;n.北方的地区
参考例句:
  • He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
  • I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。
37 forfeit YzCyA     
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物
参考例句:
  • If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎,就会失掉大家对你的好感。
  • Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。
38 avarice KeHyX     
n.贪婪;贪心
参考例句:
  • Avarice is the bane to happiness.贪婪是损毁幸福的祸根。
  • Their avarice knows no bounds and you can never satisfy them.他们贪得无厌,你永远无法满足他们。


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