In the evening dimness of old Mrs. Maldon's sitting-room1 stood the youthful virgin2, Rachel Louisa Fleckring. The prominent fact about her appearance was that she wore an apron3. Not one of those white, waist-tied aprons4, with or without bibs, worn proudly, uncompromisingly, by a previous generation of unaspiring housewives and housegirls! But an immense blue pinafore-apron, covering the whole front of the figure except the head, hands, and toes. Its virtues5 were that it fully6 protected the most fragile frock against all the perils7 of the kitchen; and that it could be slipped on or off in one second, without any manipulation of tapes, pins, or buttons and buttonholes—for it had no fastenings of any sort and merely yawned behind. In one second the drudge9 could be transformed into the elegant infanta of boudoirs, and vice10 versa. To suit the coquetry of the age the pinafore was enriched with certain flouncings, which, however, only intensified11 its unshapen ugliness.
On a plain, aged13" target="_blank">middle-aged12 woman such a pinafore would have been intolerable to the sensitive eye. But on Rachel it simply had a piquant14 and perverse15 air, because she was young, with the incomparable, the unique charm of comely16 adolescence17; it simply excited the imagination to conceive the exquisite18 treasures of contour and tint19 and texture20 which it veiled. Do not infer that Rachel was a coquette. Although comely, she was homely—a "downright" girl, scorning and hating all manner of pretentiousness21. She had a fine best dress, and when she put it on everybody knew that it was her best; a stranger would have known. Whereas of a coquette none but her intimate companions can say whether she is wearing best or second-best on a given high occasion. Rachel used the pinafore-apron only with her best dress, and her reason for doing so was the sound, sensible reason that it was the usual and proper thing to do.
She opened a drawer of the new Sheraton sideboard, and took from it a metal tube that imitated brass22, about a foot long and an inch in diameter, covered with black lettering. This tube, when she had removed its top, showed a number of thin wax tapers24 in various colours. She chose one, lit it neatly25 at the red fire, and then, standing26 on a footstool in the middle of the room, stretched all her body and limbs upward in order to reach the gas. If the tap had been half an inch higher or herself half an inch shorter, she would have had to stand on a chair instead of a footstool; and the chair would have had to be brought out of the kitchen and carried back again. But Heaven had watched over this detail. The gas-fitting consisted of a flexible pipe, resembling a thick black cord, and swinging at the end of it a specimen27 of that wonderful and blessed contrivance, the inverted28 incandescent29 mantle30 within a porcelain31 globe: the whole recently adopted by Mrs. Maldon as the dangerous final word of modern invention. It was safer to ignite the gas from the orifice at the top of the globe; but even so there was always a mild disconcerting explosion, followed by a few moments' uncertainty32 as to whether or not the gas had "lighted properly."
When the deed was accomplished33 and the room suddenly bright with soft illumination, Mrs. Maldon murmured—
"That's better!"
She was sitting in her arm-chair by the glitteringly set table, which, instead of being in the centre of the floor under the gas, had a place near the bow-window—advantageous in the murky34 daytime of the Five Towns, and inconvenient35 at night. The table might well have been shifted at night to a better position in regard to the gas. But it never was. Somehow for Mrs. Maldon the carpet was solid concrete, and the legs of the table immovably embedded36 therein.
Rachel, gentle-footed, kicked the footstool away to its lair37 under the table, and simultaneously38 extinguished the taper23, which she dropped with a scarce audible click into a vase on the mantelpiece. Then she put the cover on the tube with another faintest click, restored the tube to its drawer with a rather louder click, and finally, with a click still louder, pushed the drawer home. All these slight sounds were familiar to Mrs. Maldon; they were part of her regular night life, part of an unconsciously loved ritual, and they contributed in their degree to her placid39 happiness.
"Now the blinds, my dear!" said she.
The exhortation40 was ill-considered, and Rachel controlled a gesture of amicable41 impatience42. For she had not paused after closing the drawer; she was already on her way across the room to the window when Mrs. Maldon said, "Now the blinds, my dear!" The fact was that Mrs. Maldon measured the time between the lighting43 of gas and the drawing down of blinds by tenths of a second—such was her fear lest in that sinister44 interval45 the whole prying46 town might magically gather in the street outside and peer into the secrets of her inculpable existence.
II
When the blinds and curtains had been arranged for privacy, Mrs. Maldon sighed securely and picked up her crocheting47. Rachel rested her hands on the table, which was laid for a supper for four, and asked in a firm, frank voice whether there was anything else.
"Because, if not," Rachel added, "I'll just take off my pinafore and wash my hands."
Mrs. Maldon looked up benevolently48 and nodded in quick agreement. It was such apparently50 trifling51 gestures, eager and generous, that endeared the old lady to Rachel, giving her the priceless sensation of being esteemed52 and beloved. Her gaze lingered on her aged employer with affection and with profound respect. Mrs. Maldon made a striking, tall, slim figure, sitting erect53 in tight black, with the right side of her long, prominent nose in the full gaslight and the other heavily shadowed. Her hair was absolutely black at over seventy; her eyes were black and glowing, and she could read and do coarse crocheting without spectacles. All her skin, especially round about the eyes, was yellowish brown and very deeply wrinkled indeed; a decrepit54, senile skin, which seemed to contradict the youth of her pose and her glance. The cast of her features was benign55. She had passed through desolating56 and violent experiences, and then through a long, long period of withdrawn57 tranquillity59; and from end to end of her life she had consistently thought the best of all men, refusing to recognize evil and assuming the existence of good. Every one of the millions of her kind thoughts had helped to mould the expression of her countenance60. The expression was definite now, fixed61, intensely characteristic after so many decades, and wherever it was seen it gave pleasure and by its enchantment62 created goodness and goodwill—even out of their opposites. Such was the life-work of Mrs. Maldon.
Her eyes embraced the whole room. They did not, as the phrase is, "beam" approval; for the act of beaming involves a sort of ecstasy63, and Mrs. Maldon was too dignified64 for ecstasy. But they displayed a mild and proud contentment as she said—
"I'm sure it's all very nice."
It was. The table crowded with porcelain, crystal, silver, and flowers, and every object upon it casting a familiar curved shadow on the whiteness of the damask toward the window! The fresh crimson65 and blues66 of the everlasting67 Turkey carpet (Turkey carpet being the ne plus ultra of carpetry in the Five Towns, when that carpet was bought, just as sealskin was the ne plus ultra of all furs)! The silken-polished sideboard, strange to the company, but worthy68 of it, and exhibiting a due sense of its high destiny! The sombre bookcase and corner cupboard, darkly glittering! The Chesterfield sofa, broad, accepting, acquiescent69! The flashing brass fender and copper70 scuttle71! The comfortably reddish walls, with their pictures—like limpets on the face of precipices72! The new-whitened ceiling! In the midst the incandescent lamp that hung like the moon in heaven!... And then the young, sturdy girl, standing over the old woman and breathing out the very breath of life, vitalizing everything, rejuvenating73 the old woman!
Mrs. Maldon's sitting-room had a considerable renown74 among her acquaintance, not only for its peculiar75 charm, which combined and reconciled the tastes of two very different generations, but also for its radiant cleanness. There are many clean houses in the Five Towns, using the adjective in the relative sense in which the Five Towns is forced by chimneys to use it. But Mrs. Maldon's sitting-room (save for the white window-curtains, which had to accept the common grey fate of white window-curtains in the district) was clean in the country-side sense, almost in the Dutch sense. The challenge of its cleanness gleamed on every polished surface, victorious76 in the unending battle against the horrible contagion77 of foul78 industries. Mrs. Maldon's friends would assert that the state of that sitting-room "passed" them, or "fair passed" them, and she would receive their ever-amazed compliments with modesty79. But behind her benevolent49 depreciation80 she would be blandly81 saying to herself: "Yes, I'm scarcely surprised it passes you—seeing the way you housewives let things go on here." The word "here" would be faintly emphasized in her mind, as no native would have emphasized it.
Rachel shared the general estimate of the sitting-room. She appreciated its charm, and admitted to herself that her first vision of it, rather less than a month before, had indeed given her a new and startling ideal of cleanliness. On that occasion it had been evident, from Mrs. Maldon's physical exhaustion82, that the housemistress had made an enormous personal effort to dazzle and inspire her new "lady companion," which effort, though detected and perhaps scorned by Rachel, had nevertheless succeeded in its aim. With a certain presence of mind Rachel had feigned83 to remark nothing miraculous84 in the condition of the room. Appropriating the new ideal instantly, she had on the first morning of her service "turned out" the room before breakfast, well knowing that it must have been turned out on the previous day. Dumbfounded for a few moments, Mrs. Maldon had at length said, in her sweet and cordial benevolence85, "I'm glad to see we think alike about cleanliness." And Rachel had replied with an air at once deferential86, sweet, and yet casual, "Oh, of course, Mrs. Maldon!" Then they measured one another in a silent exchange. Mrs. Maldon was aware that she had by chance discovered a pearl—yes, a treasure beyond pearls. And Rachel, too, divined the high value of her employer, and felt within the stirrings of a passionate87 loyalty88 to her.
III
And yet, during the three weeks and a half of their joint89 existence, Rachel's estimate of Mrs. Maldon had undergone certain subtle modifications90.
At first, somewhat overawed, Rachel had seen in her employer the Mrs. Maldon of the town's legend, which legend had travelled to Rachel as far as Knype, whence she sprang. That is to say, one of the great ladies of Bursley, ranking in the popular regard with Mrs. Clayton-Vernon, the leader of society, Mrs. Sutton, the philanthropist, and Mrs. Hamps, the powerful religious bully91. She had been impressed by her height (Rachel herself being no lamp-post), her carriage, her superlative dignity, her benevolence of thought, and above all by her aristocratic Southern accent. After eight-and-forty years of the Five Towns, Mrs. Maldon had still kept most of that Southern accent—so intimidating92 to the rough, broad talkers of the district, who take revenge by mocking it among themselves, but for whom it will always possess the thrilling prestige of high life.
And then day by day Rachel had discovered that great ladies are, after all, human creatures, strangely resembling other human creatures. And Mrs. Maldon slowly became for her an old woman of seventy-two, with unquestionably wondrous93 hair, but failing in strength and in faculties94; and it grew merely pathetic to Rachel that Mrs. Maldon should force herself always to sit straight upright. As for Mrs. Maldon's charitableness, Rachel could not deny that she refused to think evil, and yet it was plain that at bottom Mrs. Maldon was not much deceived about people: in which apparent inconsistency there hid a slight disturbing suggestion of falseness that mysteriously fretted96 the downright Rachel.
Again, beneath Mrs. Maldon's modesty concerning the merits of her sitting-room Rachael soon fancied that she could detect traces of an ingenuous98 and possibly senile "house-pride," which did more than fret97 the lady companion; it faintly offended her. That one should be proud of a possession or of an achievement was admissible, but that one should fail to conceal99 the pride absolutely was to Rachel, with her Five Towns character, a sign of weakness, a sign of the soft South. Lastly, Mrs. Maldon had, it transpired100, her "ways"; for example, in the matter of blinds and in the matter of tapers. She would actually insist on the gas being lighted with a taper; a paper spill, which was just as good and better, seemed to ruffle101 her benign placidity102: and she was funnily economical with matches. Rachel had never seen a taper before, and could not conceive where the old lady managed to buy the things.
In short, with admiration103 almost undiminished, and with a rapidly growing love and loyalty, Rachel had arrived at the point of feeling glad that she, a mature, capable, sagacious, and strong woman, was there to watch over the last years of the waning104 and somewhat peculiar old lady.
Mrs. Maldon did not see the situation from quite the same angle. She did not, for example, consider herself to be in the least peculiar, but, on the contrary, a very normal woman. She had always used tapers; she could remember the period when every one used tapers. In her view tapers were far more genteel and less dangerous than the untidy, flaring105 spill, which she abhorred106 as a vulgarity. As for matches, frankly107 it would not have occurred to her to waste a match when fire was available. In the matter of her sharp insistence108 on drawn58 blinds at night, domestic privacy seemed to be one of the fundamental decencies of life—simply that! And as for house-pride, she considered that she locked away her fervent109 feeling for her parlour in a manner marvellous and complete.
No one could or ever would guess the depth of her attachment110 to that sitting-room, nor the extent to which it engrossed111 her emotional life. And yet she had only occupied the house for fourteen years out of the forty-five years of her widowhood, and the furniture had at intervals112 been renewed (for Mrs. Maldon would on no account permit herself to be old-fashioned). Indeed, she had had five different sitting-rooms in five different houses since her husband's death. No matter. They were all the same sitting-room, all rendered identical by the mysterious force of her dreamy meditations113 on the past. And, moreover, sundry114 important articles had remained constant to preserve unbroken the chain that linked her to her youth. The table which Rachel had so nicely laid was the table at which Mrs. Maldon had taken her first meal as mistress of a house. Her husband had carved mutton at it, and grumbled115 about the consistency95 of toast; her children had spilt jam on its cloth. And when on Sunday nights she wound up the bracket-clock on the mantelpiece, she could see and hear a handsome young man in a long frock-coat and a large shirt-front and a very thin black tie winding116 it up too—her husband—on Sunday nights. And she could simultaneously see another handsome young man winding it up—her son.
Her pictures were admired.
"Your son painted this water-colour, did he not, Mrs. Maldon?"
"Yes, my son Athelstan."
"How gifted he must have been!"
"Yes, the best judges say he showed very remarkable117 promise. It's fading, I fear. I ought to cover it up, but somehow I can't fancy covering it up—"
The hand that had so remarkably118 promised had lain mouldering119 for a quarter of a century. Mrs. Maldon sometimes saw it, fleshless, on a cage-like skeleton in the dark grave. The next moment she would see herself tending its chilblains.
And if she was not peculiar, neither was she waning. No! Seventy-two—but not truly old! How could she be truly old when she could see, hear, walk a mile without stopping, eat anything whatever, and dress herself unaided? And that hair of hers! Often she was still a young wife, or a young widow. She was not preparing for death; she had prepared for death in the seventies. She expected to live on in calm satisfaction through indefinite decades. She savoured life pleasantly, for its daily security was impregnable. She had forgotten grief.
When she looked up at Rachel and benevolently nodded to her, she saw a girl of line character, absolutely trustworthy, very devoted120, very industrious121, very capable, intelligent, cheerful—in fact, a splendid girl, a girl to be enthusiastic about! But such a mere8 girl! A girl with so much to learn! So pathetically young and inexperienced and positive and sure of herself! The looseness of her limbs, the unconscious abrupt122 freedom of her gestures, the waviness123 of her auburn hair, the candour of her glance, the warmth of her indignation against injustice124 and dishonesty, the capricious and sensitive flowings of blood to her smooth cheeks, the ridiculous wise compressings of her lips, the rise and fall of her rich and innocent bosom—these phenomena125 touched Mrs. Maldon and occasionally made her want to cry.
Thought she: "I was never so young as that at twenty-two! At twenty-two I had had Mary!" The possibility that in spite of having had Mary (who would now have been fifty, but for death) she had as a fact been approximately as young as that at twenty-two did not ever present itself to the waning and peculiar old lady. She was glad that she, a mature and profoundly experienced woman, in full possession of all her faculties, was there to watch over the development of the lovable, affectionate, and impulsive126 child.
《How to Live on 24 Hours a Day》
《How to Live on 24 Hours a Day》
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1
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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drudge
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| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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adolescence
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| n.青春期，青少年 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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pretentiousness
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| n.矫饰；炫耀；自负；狂妄 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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crocheting
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| v.用钩针编织( crochet的现在分词 )；钩编 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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desolating
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| 毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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63
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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64
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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67
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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acquiescent
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| adj.默许的，默认的 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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71
scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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72
precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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rejuvenating
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| 使变得年轻，使恢复活力( rejuvenate的现在分词 ) | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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77
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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depreciation
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| n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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intimidating
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| vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词) | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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transpired
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| （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 | |
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101
ruffle
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| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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103
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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104
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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108
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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109
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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112
intervals
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| 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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113
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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114
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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115
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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116
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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117
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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118
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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119
mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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120
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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122
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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123
waviness
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| n.起浪，成波浪形，动摇；波度 | |
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124
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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125
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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126
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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