30 ASLEEP

 In the morning the woman was up with the first light. And as the men came grumbling¹ in to breakfast, the round face wore its placid² smile. They joked her and ate hastily and departed for the open field. It was part of a steady policy—to be always in the open, busy, hard-working men who could not afford to lose an hour. The excursion had been a quick, restless revolt—against weeks of weeding and planting and digging.... But they had had their lesson. They were not likely to stir from their strip of market garden on the plain—not till the time was up.

 

As the woman went about her work, she listened, and stopped and went to the door—for some sound from upstairs. Presently she went up and opened the door... and looked in.

 

The child lay with one hand thrown above her head—a drawn³ look in the softly arched brow and half-parted lips. The woman bent⁴ over her, listening—and placed her hand on the small wrist and counted—waiting. The eyes flashed open—and looked at her. “I thought you were Nono,” said the child. A wistful look filled her face and her lip quivered a little—out of it—and steadied itself. “You are Mrs. Seabury,” she said quietly.

 

“Yes,” said the woman cheerfully. “Time to get up, dearie.” She turned away and busied herself with the clothes hanging from their hooks.

 

The child’s eyes followed her—dully. “I don’t think I care to get up,” she said at last.

 

The woman brought the clothes and placed them by the bed, and smiled down at her. “There’s something nice to-day,” she said casually⁵. “We’re going outdoors to-day—”

 

“Can I?” said the child. She flashed a smile and sat up. “Can I go out-of-doors?” It was a little cry of waiting—and the woman’s hand dashed across her eyes—at the keenness of it. Then she smiled—the round, assuring smile, and held up the clothes. “You hurry up and dress and eat your breakfast,” she said, “—a good, big breakfast—and we are going—out in the sun—you and me.” She nodded cheerfully and went out.

 

The child put one foot over the edge of the bed and looked down at it—a little wistfully—and placed the other beside it. They were very dark, little feet—a queer, brown colour—and the legs above them, were the same curious brown—and the small straight back—as she stepped from the bed and slipped off her nightgown and bent above the clothes on the chair. The colour ran up to her throat—around it, and over the whole sunny face and hands and arms—a strange, eclipsing, brown disguise. There had been a quick, sharp plan to take her abroad and they prepared her hastily against risks on board the steamer. The plan had been abandoned as too dangerous. But the colour clung to the soft skin; and the hair, cropped close to the neck, had a stubby, uncouth⁶ look. No one seeking Betty Harris, would have looked twice at the queer, little, brownie-like creature, dressing⁷ itself with careful haste. It lifted a plaid dress from the chair—large squares of red and green plaid—and looked at it with raised brows and dropped it over the cropped head. The skirt came to the top of the rough shoes on the small feet. Betty Harris looked down at the skirt—and smoothed it a little... and dropped on her knees beside the bed—the red and green plaids sweeping⁸ around her—and said the little prayer that Miss Stone had taught her to say at home.

 

 

 

1 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

2 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

6 uncouth   

adj.无教养的，粗鲁的

参考例句：

• She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬。
• His nephew is an uncouth young man.他的侄子是一个粗野的年轻人。

7 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

8 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？