CHAPTER III

 The door opened cautiously, as such doors in the Five Towns do, after a shooting of bolts and a loosing of chains; it opened to the extent of about nine inches, and Toby Hall saw the face of a middle-aged¹ woman eyeing him.

 

'Is this Mrs Hall's?' he asked sternly.

 

'No. It ain't Mrs Hall's. It's Mrs Tansley's.'

 

'I thowt—'

 

The door opened a little wider.

 

'That's not you, Tobias?' said the woman unmoved.

 

'I reckon it is, though,' replied Toby, with a difficult smile.

 

'Bless us!' exclaimed the woman. The door oscillated slightly under her hand. 'Bless us!' she repeated. And then suddenly, 'You'd happen better come in, Tobias.'

 

'Aye!' said Tobias.

 

And he entered.

 

'Sit ye down, do,' said his wife. 'I thowt as you were dead. They wrote and told me so.'

 

'Aye!' said Tobias. 'But I am na'.'

 

He sat down in an arm-chair near the old-fashioned grate, with its hobs at either side. He was acquainted with that chair, and it had not appreciably² altered since his departure. The lastingness³ of furniture under fair treatment is astonishing. This chair was uncomfortably in exactly the same spot where it had always been uncomfortable; and the same anti-macassar was draped over its uncompromising back. Toby put his hat on the table, and leaned his umbrella against the chimney-piece. His overcoat he retained. Same table; same chimney-piece; same clock and ornaments⁴ on the chimney-piece! But a different carpet on the floor, and different curtains before the window.

 

Priscilla bolted and chained the door, and then she too sat down. Her gown was black, with a small black silk apron⁵. And she was stout⁶, and she wore felt slippers⁷ and moved with the same gingerly care as Toby himself did. She looked fully⁸ her years. Her thin lips were firmer than ever. It was indeed Priscilla.

 

'Well, well!' she murmured.

 

But her capacity for wonder was nearly exhausted⁹.

 

'Aye!' said Toby, with an air that was meant to be quasi-humorous. He warmed his hands at the fire, and then rubbed them over the front of his calves¹⁰, leaning forward.

 

'So ye've come back?' said Priscilla.

 

'Aye!' concurred¹¹ Toby.

 

There was a pause.

 

'Cold weather we're having,' he muttered.

 

'It's seasonable,' Priscilla pointed¹² out.

 

Her glance rested on a sprig of holly¹³ that was tied under the gas-chandelier, unique relic¹⁴ of Christmas in the apartment.

 

Another pause. It would be hazardous¹⁵ to guess what their feelings were; perhaps their feelings were scarcely anything at all.

 

'And what be the news?' Toby inquired, with what passes in the Five Towns for geniality¹⁶.

 

'News?' she repeated, as if not immediately grasping the significance of the question. 'I don't know as there's any news, nothing partic'ler, that is.'

 

Hung on the wall near the chimney-piece was a photograph of a girl. It was an excellent likeness¹⁷ to Priscilla, as she was in Toby's pre-Trenton days. How young and fresh the creature looked; so simple, so inexperienced! It startled Toby.

 

'I don't remember that,' he said.

 

'What?'

 

'That!' And he jerked his elbow towards the photograph.

 

'Oh! THAT! That's my daughter,' said Priscilla.

 

'Bless us!' said Toby in turn.

 

'I married Job Tansley,' Priscilla continued. 'He died four years ago last Knype Wakes Monday. HER'S married'—indicating the photograph—'her married young Gibson last September.'

 

'Well, well!' murmured Toby.

 

Another pause.

 

There was a shuffling¹⁸ on the pavement outside, and some children began to sing about shepherds and flocks.

 

'Oh, bother them childer,' said Priscilla. 'I must send 'em off.'

 

She got up.

 

'Here! Give 'em a penny,' Toby suggested, holding out a penny.

 

'Yes, and then they'll tell others, and I shan't have a moment's peace all night!' Priscilla grumbled¹⁹.

 

However, she bestowed²⁰ the penny, cutting the song off abruptly²¹ in the middle. And she bolted and chained the door and sat down again.

 

Another pause.

 

'Well, well!' said Priscilla.

 

'Aye!' Toby agreed. 'Good coal that!'

 

'Fourteen shilling a ton!'

 

Another pause, and a longer.

 

'Is Ned Walklate still at th' Rose and Crown?' Toby asked.

 

'For aught I know he is,' said Priscilla.

 

'I'll just step round there,' said Toby, picking up his hat and rising.

 

As he was manoeuvring the door-chain, Priscilla said—

 

'You're forgetting your umbrella, Tobias.'

 

'No,' he answered. 'I hanna' forgotten it. I'm coming back.'

 

Their eyes met, charged with meaning.

 

'That'll be all right,' she said. 'Well, well!'

 

'Aye!'

 

And he stepped round to Ned Walklate's.

1 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

2 appreciably   

adv.相当大地

参考例句：

• The index adds appreciably to the usefulness of the book. 索引明显地增加了这本书的实用价值。
• Otherwise the daily mean is perturbed appreciably by the lunar constituents. 否则，日平均值就会明显地受到太阳分潮的干扰。

3 lastingness   

耐久

参考例句：

4 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

6   

参考例句：

7 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

10 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

14 relic   

n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物

参考例句：

• This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.这石斧是古代的遗物。
• He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.他把这个男人看成是过去时代的人物。

15 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

16 geniality   

n.和蔼，诚恳；愉快

参考例句：

• They said he is a pitiless,cold-blooded fellow,with no geniality in him.他们说他是个毫无怜悯心、一点也不和蔼的冷血动物。
• Not a shade was there of anything save geniality and kindness.他的眼神里只显出愉快与和气，看不出一丝邪意。

17 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

18 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

19 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。

20 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

21 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。