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CHAPTER VI £500
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 "And what is your other name, Mr. Engelhardt?"
 
"Hermann."
 
"Hermann Engelhardt! That's a lovely name. How well it will look in the newspapers!"
 
The piano-tuner shook his head.
 
"It will never get into them now," said he, sadly.
 
"What nonsense!" exclaimed the girl. "When you have told me of all the big things you dream of doing one day! You'll do them every one when you go home to England again; I'll put my bottom dollar on you."
 
"Ah, but the point is whether I shall ever go back at all."
 
"Of course you will."
 
"I have a presentiment1 that I never shall."
 
"Since when?" inquired Naomi, with a kindly2 sarcasm3.
 
"Oh, I always have it, more or less."
 
"You had it very much less this morning, when you were telling me how you'd go home and study at Milan and I don't know where-all, once you'd made the money."
 
"But I don't suppose I ever shall make it."
 
"Bless the man!" cried Naomi, giving him up, for the moment in despair. She continued to gaze at him, however, as he leant back in his wicker chair, with hopeless dark eyes fixed4 absently upon the distant clumps5 of pale green trees that came between glaring plain and cloudless sky. They were sitting on the veranda6 which did not face the station-yard, because it was the shady one in the afternoon. The silver had all been properly put away, and locked up as carefully as before. As for the morning's visitors, Naomi was herself disposed to think no more of them or their impudence7; it is therefore sad to relate that her present companion would allow her to forget neither. With him the incident rankled8 characteristically; it had left him solely9 occupied by an extravagantly10 poor opinion of himself. For the time being, this discolored his entire existence and prospects11, draining his self-confidence to the last drop. Accordingly, he harped12 upon the late annoyance13, and his own inglorious share in it, to an extent which in another would have tried Naomi very sorely indeed; but in him she rather liked it. She had a book in her lap, but it did not interest her nearly so much as the human volume in the wicker chair at her side. She was exceedingly frank about the matter.
 
"You're the most interesting man I ever met in my life," was her very next remark.
 
"I can't think that!"
 
He had hauled in his eyes some miles to see whether she meant it.
 
"Nevertheless, it's the case. Do you know why you're so interesting?"
 
"No, that I don't!"
 
"Because you're never the same for two seconds together."
 
His face fell.
 
"Among other reasons," added Naomi, nodding kindly.
 
But Engelhardt had promptly14 put himself upon the spit. He was always doing this.
 
 
"Yes, I know I'm a terribly up-and-down kind of chap," said he, miserably15; "there's no happy medium about me."
 
"When you are good you are very good indeed, and when you are bad you are horrid16! That's just what I like. I can't stand your always-the-same people. They bore me beyond words; they drill me through and through! Still, you were very good indeed this morning, you know. It is too absurd of you to give a second thought to a couple of tramps and their insolence17!"
 
"I can't help it. I'm built that way. To think that I should have stood still to hear you insulted like that!"
 
"But you didn't stand still."
 
"Oh, yes, I did."
 
"Well, I wish you wouldn't bother about it. I wish you wouldn't bother about yourself."
 
"When I am bad I am horrid," he said, with a wry18 smile, "and that's now."
 
"No, I tell you I like it. I never know where I've got you. That's one reason why you're so interesting."
 
His face glowed, and he clasped her with his glance.
 
"How kind you are!" he said, softly. "How you make the best of one, even at one's worst! But oh, how bitterly you make me wish that I were different!"
 
"I'm very glad that you're not," said Naomi; "everybody else is different."
 
"But I would give my head to be like everybody else—to be hail-fellow with those men out at the shed, for instance. They wouldn't have stood still this morning."
 
"Wouldn't you as soon be hail-fellow with me?" asked the girl, ignoring his last sentence.
 
"A million times sooner, of course! But surely you understand?"
 
"I think I do."
 
"I know you do; you understand everything. I never knew anyone like you, never!"
 
"Then we're quits," said Naomi, as though the game were over. And she closed her eyes. But it was she who began it again; it always was.
 
"You have one great fault," she said, maternally19.
 
"I have a thousand and one."
 
"There you are. You think too much about them. You take too much notice of yourself; that's your great fault."
 
"Yet I didn't think I was conceited20."
 
 
"Not half enough. That's just it. Yet you are egotistical."
 
He looked terribly crestfallen21. "I suppose I am," he said, dolefully. "In fact, I am."
 
"Then you're not, so there!"
 
"Which do you mean?"
 
"I only said it to tease you. Do you suppose I'd have said such a thing if I'd really thought it?"
 
"I shouldn't mind what you said. If you really do think me egotistical, pray say so frankly22."
 
"Of course I don't think anything of the kind!"
 
"Is that the truth?"
 
"The real truth."
 
(It was not.)
 
"If it's egotistical to think absolutely nothing of yourself," continued Naomi, "and to blame yourself and not other people for every little thing that goes wrong, then I should call you a twenty-two-carat egotist. But even then your aims and ambitions would be rather lofty for the billet."
 
"They never seemed so to me," he whispered, "until you sympathized with them."
 
"Of course I sympathize," said Naomi, laughing at him. It was necessary to laugh at him now and then. It kept him on his feet; this time it led him from the abstract to the concrete.
 
"If only I could make enough money to go home and study, to study even in London for one year," murmured Engelhardt, as his eyes drifted out across the plains. "Then I should know whether my dreams ever were worth dreaming. But I have taken root out here, I am beginning to do well, better than ever I could have hoped. At our village in the old country I was glad enough to play the organ in church for twelve pounds a year. Down in Victoria they gave me fifty without a murmur23, and I made a little more out of teaching. Oh! didn't I tell you I started life out here as an organist? That's how it was I was able to buy this business, and I am doing very well indeed. Two pounds for tuning24 a piano! They wouldn't credit it in the old country."
 
"The man before you used to charge three. A piano-tuner in the bush is an immensely welcome visitor, mind. I don't think I should have lowered my terms at all, especially when you have no intention of doing this sort of thing all your days."
 
"Ah, well, I shall never dare to throw it up."
 
 
"Never's not a word I like to hear you use, Mr. Engelhardt. Remember that you've only been out here three years, and that you are not yet twenty-six. You told me so yourself this morning."
 
"It's perfectly25 true," said Engelhardt. "But there's one's mother to consider. I told you about her. I am beginning to send her so much money now. It would be frightful26 to give that up, just because there are tunes27 in my head now and then, and I can't put them together in proper harmony."
 
"I should say that your mother would rather have you than your money, Mr. Engelhardt."
 
"Perhaps so, but not if I were on her hands composing things that nobody would publish."
 
"That couldn't be. You would succeed. Something tells me that you would. I see it in your face; I did this morning. I know nothing about music, yet I feel so certain about you. The very fact that you should have these ambitions when you are beginning to do well out here, that in itself is enough for me."
 
He shook his head, without turning it to thank her by so much as a look. The girl was glad of that. Though he had so little[Pg 79] confidence in himself, she knew that the dreams of which he had spoken more freely and more hopefully in the morning were thick upon him then, as he sat in the wicker chair and looked out over the plains, with parted lips and such wistful eyes that Naomi's mind went to work at the promptings of the heart in her which he touched. It was a nimble, practical mind, and the warm heart beneath it was the home of noble impulses, which broke forth29 continually in kind words and generous acts. Naomi wore that heart upon her sweet frank face, it shone with a clear light out of the fearless eyes that were fixed now so long and so steadily30 upon the piano-tuner's eager profile. She watched him while the shadow of the building grew broader and broader under his eyes, until all at once it lost its edges, and there were no more sunlit patches on the plain. Still he neither moved nor looked at her. At last she touched him on the arm. She was sitting on his right, and she laid her fingers lightly upon the splints and bandages which were her own handiwork.
 
"Well, Mr. Engelhardt?"
 
He started round, and she was smiling at him in the gloaming, with her sweet warm face closer to his than it had ever been before.
 
 
"I have been very rude," he stammered31.
 
"I am going to be much ruder."
 
"Now you are laughing at me."
 
"No, I am not. I was never farther from laughing in my life, for I fear that I shall offend you, though I do hope not."
 
He saw that something was upon her mind.
 
"You couldn't do it if you tried," he said, simply.
 
"Then I want to know how much money you think you ought to have to go home to England with a clear conscience, and to give yourself heart and soul to music for a year certain? I am so inquisitive32 about it all."
 
She was employing, indeed, and successfully, a tone of pure and indefensible curiosity. He thought for some moments before answering. Then he said, quite innocently:
 
"Five hundred pounds. That would leave me enough to come back and start all over again out here if I failed. I wouldn't tackle it on less."
 
"But you wouldn't fail. I know nothing about it, but I have my instincts, and I see success in your face. I see it there! And I want to bet on you. I have more money than is good for any girl, and I want to back you for five hundred pounds."
 
"It is very kind of you," he said, "but you would lose your money." He did not see her meaning. The southern night had set in all at once; he could not even see her strenuous33 eyes.
 
"How dense34 you are," she said, softly, and with a little nervous laugh. "Can't you see that I want to lend you the money?"
 
"To lend it to me!"
 
"Why not?"
 
"Five hundred pounds!"
 
"My dear young man, I'm ashamed to say that I should never feel it. It's a sporting offer merely. Of course I'd charge interest—you'd dedicate all your nice songs to me. Why don't you answer? I don't like to see you in the bush, it isn't at all the place for you; and I do want to send you home to your mother. You might let me, for her sake. Have you lost your tongue?"
 
Her hand had remained upon the splints and bandages; indeed, she had forgotten that there was a living arm inside them, but now something trivial occurred that made her withdraw it, and also get up from her chair.
 
"Are you on, or are you not?"
 
"Oh, how can I thank you? What can I say?"
 
 
"Yes or no," replied Naomi, promptly.
 
"No, then. I can't—I can't——"
 
"Then don't. Now not another word! No, there's no offence on either side, unless it's I that have offended you. It was great cheek of me, after all. Yes, it was! Well, then, if it wasn't, will you have the goodness to lend me your ears on an entirely35 different matter?"
 
"Very well; with all my heart; yet if only I could ever thank you——"
 
"If only you would be quiet and listen to me! How are the bruises36 behaving? That's all I want to hear now."
 
"The bruises? Oh, they're all right; I'd quite forgotten I had any."
 
"You can lean back without hurting?"
 
"Rather! If I put my weight on the left side it doesn't hurt a bit."
 
"Think you could stand seven miles in a buggy to-morrow morning?"
 
"Couldn't I!"
 
"Then I thought of driving over to the shed in the morning; and you shall come with me if you're good."
 
For an instant he looked radiant. Then his face clouded over as he thought again of her goodness and his own ingratitude37.
 
"Miss Pryse," he began—and stuck—but his tone spoke28 volumes of remorse38 and self-abasement.
 
Evidently she was getting to know that tone, for she caught him up with a look of distinct displeasure.
 
"Only if you're good, mind!" she told him, sharply. "Not on any account unless!"
 
And Engelhardt said no more.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 presentiment Z18zB     
n.预感,预觉
参考例句:
  • He had a presentiment of disaster.他预感会有灾难降临。
  • I have a presentiment that something bad will happen.我有某种不祥事要发生的预感。
2 kindly tpUzhQ     
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地
参考例句:
  • Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
  • A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。
3 sarcasm 1CLzI     
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic)
参考例句:
  • His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
  • She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。
4 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
5 clumps a9a186997b6161c6394b07405cf2f2aa     
n.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的名词复数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声v.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声
参考例句:
  • These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了,剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
7 impudence K9Mxe     
n.厚颜无耻;冒失;无礼
参考例句:
  • His impudence provoked her into slapping his face.他的粗暴让她气愤地给了他一耳光。
  • What knocks me is his impudence.他的厚颜无耻使我感到吃惊。
8 rankled bfb0a54263d4c4175194bac323305c52     
v.(使)痛苦不已,(使)怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Her comments still rankled. 她的评价仍然让人耿耿于怀。
  • The insult rankled in his mind. 这种侮辱使他心里难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
10 extravagantly fcd90b89353afbdf23010caed26441f0     
adv.挥霍无度地
参考例句:
  • The Monroes continued to entertain extravagantly. 门罗一家继续大宴宾客。 来自辞典例句
  • New Grange is one of the most extravagantly decorated prehistoric tombs. 新格兰奇是装饰最豪华的史前陵墓之一。 来自辞典例句
11 prospects fkVzpY     
n.希望,前途(恒为复数)
参考例句:
  • There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
  • They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。
12 harped c17b86c23bbe70980b60b3d3b5fb3c11     
vi.弹竖琴(harp的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The teacher harped on at the student for being late. 老师因学生迟到而喋喋不休。 来自互联网
  • She harped the Saint-Saens beautifully. 她用竖琴很完美地演奏圣桑的作品。 来自互联网
13 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。
14 promptly LRMxm     
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。
15 miserably zDtxL     
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地
参考例句:
  • The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
  • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
17 insolence insolence     
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度
参考例句:
  • I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱,不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度? 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 wry hMQzK     
adj.讽刺的;扭曲的
参考例句:
  • He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸,打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
  • Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马,噘了噘嘴。
19 maternally e0cf9da8fdb32a0206b9748503b0d531     
参考例句:
  • She loved her students almost maternally. 她像母亲一样爱她的学生。
  • The resulting fetuses consisted of either mostly paternally or mostly maternally expressed genes. 这样产生的胎儿要么主要是父方的基因表达,要么主要是母方的基因表达。
20 conceited Cv0zxi     
adj.自负的,骄傲自满的
参考例句:
  • He could not bear that they should be so conceited.他们这样自高自大他受不了。
  • I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think.我不像很多人认为的那么自负。
21 crestfallen Aagy0     
adj. 挫败的,失望的,沮丧的
参考例句:
  • He gathered himself up and sneaked off,crushed and crestfallen.他爬起来,偷偷地溜了,一副垂头丧气、被斗败的样子。
  • The youth looked exceedingly crestfallen.那青年看上去垂头丧气极了。
22 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
23 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
24 tuning 8700ed4820c703ee62c092f05901ecfc     
n.调谐,调整,调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
25 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
26 frightful Ghmxw     
adj.可怕的;讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊!
  • We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
27 tunes 175b0afea09410c65d28e4b62c406c21     
n.曲调,曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
参考例句:
  • a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
  • When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时,她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
29 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。
30 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
31 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
32 inquisitive s64xi     
adj.求知欲强的,好奇的,好寻根究底的
参考例句:
  • Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
  • A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。
33 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。
34 dense aONzX     
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的
参考例句:
  • The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
  • The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
35 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。
36 bruises bruises     
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来,摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 ingratitude O4TyG     
n.忘恩负义
参考例句:
  • Tim's parents were rather hurt by his ingratitude.蒂姆的父母对他的忘恩负义很痛心。
  • His friends were shocked by his ingratitude to his parents.他对父母不孝,令他的朋友们大为吃惊。
38 remorse lBrzo     
n.痛恨,悔恨,自责
参考例句:
  • She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
  • He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。


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