CHAPTER II

WHEN supper was done and the children in bed she moved about the room for a few minutes putting things to rights. Eldridge, sitting by the table, held his newspaper in his hand and now and then he rustled¹ it and turned it over; his eyes did not leave the little black printed marks, but his real eyes were not following the marks; they were watching the woman; they tried to dart² upon her in her plainness and make her speak. There was something monstrous³ to him—that they should be here together, in this room—he could have touched her with his hand as she moved past him—yet they were a thousand miles apart. He cleared his throat; he would force her, accuse her, make her reveal what was going on behind the earnest-looking glasses.... He turned the paper and began another page.... If he were another man he might spring at her—take her by the throat—force her back—back against the wall—and make her speak! She had finished tidying the room and came over to the table, the torn coat in her hand; she was looking down at the frayed⁴ threads in the rent, the little line between her eyes; he did not look up or move; he could hear her breathing—then she gave a little sigh and laid the coat on the table.... She was leaving the room. His eyes leaped after her and came back.

 

When she returned she spread the roll of pieces on the table and selected one, slipping it in beneath the rent; he could see—without taking his eyes from the page—he could see the anxious, faintly red knuckles⁵ and her fingers fitting the piece in place with deft⁶, roughened tips. She had a kind of special skill at mending, making old things new. When they were first married it had been one of their little jokes—how lucky she was to have married a poor man. He had kissed her fingers one day—he recalled it—when she had shown him the little skilful⁷ darn in his coat; he had called it a kind of poem and he had kissed her. It seemed almost shameless to him, behind his paper—the foolishness was shameless—of kissing her for that....

 

She was sewing swiftly now with the short, still movements that came and went like breaths; her head was bent⁸ over the coat and he could see the parting of her hair; he dropped his eye to it for a minute and rustled the paper and turned it vaguely⁹. “I was in at Merwin’s this afternoon,” he said.

 

The needle paused a dart—and went on rhythmically¹⁰, in and out. “Did you like it?” she asked. She had not lifted her head from her work.

 

He turned a casual page and read on—“Oh, so-so.” It was the sort of absent-minded talk they often had—a kind of thinking out loud without interest in one another.

 

“It is a popular place, isn’t it?”

 

She was smoothing the edges of the patch thoughtfully; there was a little smile on her lip.

 

He folded his paper. “I’m going to bed,” he announced.

 

She glanced quickly at the clock and resumed her work. “I must finish this. He hasn’t any other to wear.” The needle went in and out.

 

Eldridge rose and stretched himself above her. He looked down at her—at the swift-moving hands and grey closeness of her dress. He would like to take her in his hands and crush out of her the thoughts—make her speak out the thoughts that followed the swift-going needle; he did not know that he wanted this—he was only feeling over and over, in some deep, angry place—“What the devil was she doing there? What the——”

 

He moved about the room a minute and ’went out. The woman by the table sewed on. A bolt shot in the front hall and Eldridge’s feet mounted the stairs slowly. Then the room was quiet—only the clock and the needle.

 

Presently the needle stopped—the woman’s hands lay folded in her lap. The figure was motionless, the head bent—only across her face moved the little smile.... The clock travelled round and whirred its warning note and struck, and she only stirred a little, as if a breath escaped her, and took up her work, looking at it blindly.

 

A sound came in the hall and she looked up.

 

He stood in the doorway¹¹, his old dressing-gown wrapped around him, his hands gaunt, with the little hairs at the wrist uncovered by cuffs¹².

 

She looked at him, smiling absently. There was something almost beautiful in her face as she lifted it to him—“When are you coming to bed?” he asked harshly.

 

“Why, right now, Eldridge—I must have been dreaming.” She gathered up the work from her lap. “I hope I haven’t kept you awake.”

 

He stood looking at her a minute. Then he wheeled about without response. His feet beneath the bath gown moved awkwardly. But the spine¹³ in the bath gown had a cold, dignified¹⁴, offended look—a kind of grotesque¹⁵ stateliness—as it disappeared through the doorway.

 

The woman looked after it, the little, gathering¹⁶ smile still on her face. Then she turned toward the lamp and put it out, and the radiant smile close to the lamp became a part of the dark.

1 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

3 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

4 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 deft   

adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手）

参考例句：

• The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
• This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快，能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。

7 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

8 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。

9 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

10 rhythmically   

adv.有节奏地

参考例句：

• A pigeon strutted along the roof, cooing rhythmically. 一只鸽子沿着屋顶大摇大摆地走，有节奏地咕咕叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Exposures of rhythmically banded protore are common in the workings. 在工作面中常见有韵律条带“原矿石”。 来自辞典例句

11 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

12 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。

13 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

14 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

15 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

16 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。