CHAPTER V

 Uncle William sat on the beach mending his nets. He drew the twine¹ deftly² in and out, squinting³ now and then across the harbor at a line of smoke that dwindled⁴ into the sky. Each time he looked it was fainter on the horizon. He whistled a little as he bent⁵ to his work.

 

Over the rocks Andrew appeared, bearing on his back a huge bundle of nets. He threw it on the sand with a grunt⁶. Straightening himself, he glanced at the line of smoke. “He’s gone,” he said, jerking his thumb toward it.

 

“He’s gone,” assented⁷ Uncle William, cheerfully.

 

Andrew kicked the bundle of nets apart and drew an end toward him, spreading it along the beach. “He’s left you poorer’n he found you,” he said. His tough fingers worked swiftly among the nets, untying⁸ knots and straightening meshes⁹.

 

“I dunno ’bout¹⁰ that,” said Uncle William. His eyes followed the whiff of smoke kindly¹¹.

 

“You kep’ him a good deal, off and on. He must ’a’ e’t considerable,” said Andrew. “And now he’s up and lost your boat for you.” He glanced complacently¹² at the Andrew Halloran swinging at anchor. “You’ll never see her again,” he said. He gave a final toss to the net.

 

“Mebbe not,” said Uncle William. “Mebbe not.” His eyes were on the horizon, where the gray-blue haze¹³ lingered lightly. The blue sky dipped to meet it. It melted in sunlight. Uncle William’s eyes returned to his nets.

 

“How you going to get along ’bout a bout?” asked Andrew, carelessly.

 

Uncle William paused. He looked up to the clear sky. “I shouldn’t need her much more this fall, anyways,” he said. “An’ come spring, I’ll get another. I’ve been needin’ a new boat a good while.”

 

Andrew grunted¹⁴. He glanced a little jealously at the Andrew Halloran. “Got the money?” he asked.

 

“Well, not got it, so to speak,” said Uncle William, “but I reckon I shall have it when the time comes.”

 

Andrew’s face lightened a little. “What you countin’ on?” he said.

 

Uncle William considered. “There’s the fish. Gunnion hain’t settled with me yet for my fish.”

 

Andrew nodded. “Seventy-five dollars.”

 

“And I’ve got quite a count of lobsters¹⁵ up to the boardin’-house—”

 

Andrew’s small eyes squinted¹⁶ knowingly. “Out o’ season?”

 

Uncle William returned the look benignly¹⁷. “We didn’t date the ’count—just lumped ’em, so much a catch; saves trouble.”

 

Andrew chuckled¹⁸. “I’ve saved trouble that way myself.” He made a rough calculation. “It won’t make a hunderd, all told. How you goin’ to get the rest?”

 

“Mebbe I shall borrow it,” said Uncle William. He looked serenely¹⁹ at the sky. “Like enough he’ll send a little suthin’,” he added.

 

“Like enough!” said Andrew.

 

“He mentioned it,” said Uncle William.

 

“He’s gone,” said Andrew. He gave a light p-f-f with his lips and screwed up his eyes, seeming to watch a bubble sail away.

 

Uncle William smiled. “You don’t have faith, Andy,” he said reproachfully. “Folks do do things, a good many times—things that they say they will. You o’t to have faith.”

 

Andrew snuffed. “When I pin my faith to a thing, Willum, I like to hev suthin’ to stick the pin into,” he said scornfully.

 

They worked in silence. Seagulls dipped about them. Off shore the sea-lions bobbed their thick, flabby black heads inquiringly in the water and climbed clumsily over the kelp-covered rocks.

 

Andrew’s eyes rested impassively on their gambols²⁰. “Wuthless critters,” he said.

 

Uncle William’s face softened²¹ as he watched them. “I kind o’ like to see ’em, Andy—up and down and bobbin’ and sloppin’ and scramblin’; you never know where they’ll come up next.”

 

“Don’t need to,” grumbled²² Andy. “Can’t eat the blamed things—nor wear ’em. I tell you, Willum,”—he turned a gloomy eye on his companion,—“I tell you, you set too much store by wuthless things.”

 

“Mebbe I do,” said William, humbly²³.

 

“This one, now—this painter fellow.” Andrew gave a wave of his hand that condensed scorn. “What’d you get out o’ him, a-gabblin’ and sailin’ all summer?”

 

“I dunno, Andy, as I could jest put into words,” said William, thoughtfully, “what I did get out o’ him.”

 

“Ump! I guess you couldn’t—nor anybody else. When he sends you anything for that boat o’ yourn, you jest let me know it, will you?”

 

“Why, yes, Andy, I’ll let you know if you want me to. I’ll be reel pleased to let you know,” said Uncle William.

1 twine   

v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕

参考例句：

• He tied the parcel with twine.他用细绳捆包裹。
• Their cardboard boxes were wrapped and tied neatly with waxed twine.他们的纸板盒用蜡线扎得整整齐齐。

2 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 squinting   

斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• "More company," he said, squinting in the sun. "那边来人了，"他在阳光中眨巴着眼睛说。
• Squinting against the morning sun, Faulcon examined the boy carefully. 对着早晨的太阳斜起眼睛，富尔康仔细地打量着那个年轻人。

4 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

7 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

8 untying   

untie的现在分词

参考例句：

• The tying of bow ties is an art; the untying is easy. 打领带是一种艺术，解领带则很容易。
• As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 33他们解驴驹的时候，主人问他们说，解驴驹作什么？

9 meshes   

网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境

参考例句：

• The net of Heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through. 天网恢恢，疏而不漏。
• This net has half-inch meshes. 这个网有半英寸见方的网孔。

10 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

11 kindly   

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。

12 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

14 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。

15 lobsters   

龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉

参考例句：

• I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
• She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。

16 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。

17 benignly   

adv.仁慈地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Everyone has to benignly help people in distress. 每一个人应让该亲切地帮助有困难的人。 来自互联网
• This drug is benignly soporific. 这种药物具有良好的催眠效果。 来自互联网

18 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

19 serenely   

adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地

参考例句：

• The boat sailed serenely on towards the horizon.小船平稳地向着天水交接处驶去。
• It was a serenely beautiful night.那是一个宁静美丽的夜晚。

20 gambols   

v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

21 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

22 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

23 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。